Reset
by FlightlessTree
Summary: You're exhausted. Every ending takes a little more out of you, but it just keeps restarting. Warning: contains violence and frequent mentions of suicide. Cover by eternal blossoms ( /u/3886989/ )
1. The End

Finally, you could rest. The ache in your elderly bones seemed to fade away and you felt a clear-headedness you hadn't experienced in years. You opened your eyes to look at the figures standing around you, vaguely aware of crying—but the figures could not come into focus, and the sounds were muffled s though underwater. You felt a sense of grief in this room, but only found contentment in yourself. Why were they so sad? You did you best to smile at the figures and pulled one out last bit of Determination from your tired soul to tell them all goodbye. To tell them that you loved them. And then, peacefully, your eyes drifted closed and you gave one long, calm, final exhale. Everything went black.

 **THE END.**

 **RESET?**

 _I've been here before._ You stared at the thick, blocky letters looming before you. You've been here. You'd forgotten, but you've _been_ here. You took a step back, suddenly feeling so small. The words towered over you. They were so bright it hurt to look at. You took another step back. They seemed to follow. Panic filled you. You turned and ran, but lost your footing. And suddenly there wasn't ground beneath your feet anymore.

You felt an impact; pain shot through your entire body. You were afraid to open your eyes, afraid of what you'd see. Soft, gently breezing leaves tickled at your skin. It smelled damp, earthy, and floral here. You squeezed your eyes shut and wrapped your arms around your aching ribs.

"Howdy!"

And then you knew there was no more denying it. Your eyes shot open and found a smiling face look back at you. You watched each other a moment; the plant looking expectant. You made no expression at all.

"I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!"

You looked around you. It had been years since you've been here, but at this moment it felt like you'd never left. The Underground. The Ruins. You were aware the flower was speaking, but you knew the speech by heart. Any moment it would try and trick you with those stupid pellets. You stood up.

"H-hey…!"

You didn't even give the plant a glance. You tried stepping right over it, ignoring the dull pain you felt across your back from the fall. But now you were shorter than you're used to and you ended up accidentally kicking poor Flowey in the face. He didn't seem to like that and started sputtering all kinds of mean words, but you just couldn't bring yourself to care. You were just about to leave the room but you hesitated at the door—what the hell did you really plan on doing here? You glanced back, your eyes looking upwards towards the open roof. It was dark, but you saw the moon and stars poking through the canopy of the forest above. Last time you saw those woods, they'd been cut down for development. And now they were back, just like you. Did the trees remember dying?

With a shake of your head at such a stupid question, you pushed the door open and stepped through—leaving Flowey confused and infuriated behind you.

And then there she was. Despite yourself, you smiled. Toriel looked surprised to see you, but didn't hesitate to approach. "Hello, my child!" Ha, child. "What are you doing down here?" She eyed your scrapes and bruises with a worried furrow of the brow. "You are hurt! You must be so frightened. But do not worry, you are safe with me." She took your hands into her wide, soft paws and led you through the caverns. Despite the darkness of this place, you never felt afraid here. Maybe the first few times—you couldn't really remember that far back. But you had quickly learned this was a safe place. No monster here could hurt you.

But man, oh man, could _you_ hurt _them_. You shuddered. That was a bad time in your life (lives). You'd learned the hard way what violence does to you. Who it lets in.

Even after Toriel separated with you, you had no trouble navigating the ruins. You remembered exactly where the traps were set and what levers needed pulling. You still had a little trouble staying patient with that talking rock, though. As you walked, you considered your situation with more than a little exasperation. You always had some trouble remembering previous lives—mainly the variations between each life. It was only easy to remember the path to take through the leaves to keep from falling below because you'd seen it hundreds of times.

Did you make it to the surface last time? You _thought_ you did. You strained to remember what had happened, but like a dream, your memory of it was frustratingly just beyond your reach. You remember being happy, at least. And tired. You know you were dying, but dying was always a part of resetting—every death brought you to the same golden garden. However, something about this particular death seemed different. It didn't seem so… violent.

"Frisk! I was just about to call!" Toriel wrapped you in a hug. You hadn't even realized you were already here. The hug felt nice and she smelled like home. She led you by the hand past the dead tree and into her cozy, inviting home. It smelled like books, the burning coals of a fireplace, and fresh cinnamon-butterscotch pie. You felt like crying; you didn't know how much you missed it here.

She showed you to the bedroom. You thought of all the people who'd slept here and how most of them were you. The bed was soft as ever and you slept a long time. When you finally woke, you didn't leave the bed for hours. You stared up at the ceiling and wondered if you should stay with her this time. You had before; in many lives you refused to leave the ruins. It was nice for a while, but Flowey always came for you. You could leave the ruins, but you dreaded the thought of going through it all again. The same pointless story. You knew every ending and they always came back here. You could barely remember your life from back before you were trapped in this… this… loop. There'd been many times when you'd made it to the surface and had no idea where to go. You didn't remember where you lived. Who your human family was. Why did you even go up that mountain in the first place?

You let out a frustrated sigh and kicked off the blankets, suddenly uncomfortable and hot. Every question you asked, you asked a million times before. It angered you that you always came back to the same stupid problems. No matter what you did, you could never progress. The solution was never any clearer. All of your options had been exhausted; you've played along with this stupid game kindly, cruelly, and everything in between. And something about the last life you lived made you so tired. You struggled to understand how you felt… and it slowly became clear. _That should've been the end._

You sat up quickly and stared at the walls. That should've been the end. That wasn't just any death, it was a real death. A good death, even. You looked at your hands and saw that they were the hands of a child. But you weren't a child. You were... old. You had found an ending you could grow old in. How? Did you make it to the surface? Did you stay here? Did you kill anyone? You couldn't remember… what did you do?

You would have to leave the ruins. You knew the only way to remember some things was through re-experiencing them. Not all the dots stay connected in your head; some things are forgotten. But when you come across certain events or places, your memory gets jogged and you remember past choices. You just hoped you wouldn't confuse timelines.

You got out of bed and almost stepped in the piece of pie. Oh yeah; there's something you'd somehow forgotten. In many lives, you never even ate the pie. This time, you decided to start on it right away. You took the plate out of the room with you, eating as you wandered the house. Nothing was really different; Toriel's socks, the locked bedroom, your face in the mirror (it had once been Chara's).

You began your argument with Toriel once the pie was finished. That went as always. In past lives you did everything you could to get her to come with you, but she never did. You were always forced to separate. When the fight was over, she gave you one last embrace. You allowed yourself to hug her back and take a moment to just… enjoy it. You would really miss her.

Before you could really leave the ruins, Flowey was there. There were several moments of silence, but finally he spoke. "You've done this before, haven't you?" You nodded. "I feel like… I have, too." The flower was troubled. "I'm so… tired." You both looked at each other. For the first time in this life, you spoke.

"It's going to be okay, Asriel. I will help you. Maybe this time we can find a real ending." Even now, you still loved him. But his tragedy exhausted you. The flower, not knowing how to respond, decided to simply vanish into the ground. That was fine by you.

You stepped through the doors and then it was winter.

* * *

 **So I've decided to try my hand at an Undertale fic! Not totally sure how I want it to go, but we'll see! Not much plot happened so far, just Frisk going through the motions of the game and figuring stuff out.**

 **Edit: fixed some typos and formatting errors. I want to point out that Frisk's memory is kind of going in and out-as in, they remember more at some points and less at others. Frisk's past lives are remembered like dreams; so very inconsistent. But general feelings and moments that stand out are remembered. I'm worried about what I'm going to do in future chapters, especially since I want Sans to be a big part of the story. I really like the mood I have set, but I have a feeling I won't be able to keep it for long-maybe that's a good thing, though.  
**


	2. Constant

**Hello, readers! I was really pleased to see that people seem to like this story so far-hope this chapter is as well received as the first one! This is a chapter where my nerdiness shines through, so beware. Hopefully the stuff I cover isn't too confusing, but if it is please let me know!**

* * *

Sans woke up. Light from the window shone directly on his face, which gave him a bit of a headache. He felt around for a blanket to pull over his head, but found none near him. He slowly opened one eye, and saw his ball of sheets had somehow made its way into the trash tornado, far out of reach. Fair enough.

The skeleton slowly pulled himself to a sitting position, his bones cracked and rubbed against each other painfully as he did so. He felt stiff and sore. Not that it was an unusual feeling for him; he'd been prone to aches for a long time now. Sans looked down at his body with a sigh; he was only wearing pajama bottoms, meaning he went to bed properly last night. Must've been a good day, then. That's good. He couldn't recall what happened yesterday just yet, though. He always had trouble remembering things in the mornings. That didn't used to be a problem, but the time loop had a way of confusing him. _it_ _throws me for a loop._

Sans patted around himself groggily, looking for his cell phone. After some confused minutes, he finally found it wedged between the wall and the mattress, just about to die. He always forgot to charge the damn thing. He barely ever used it, but he made a habit of checking the date every morning, just in case—

 _oh shit_. Sans stared down at the screen. Whelp, good thing he checked. Looks like that damn kid reset again. Back to day one. The skeleton fell back into the bed in defeat, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression. A sense of tired dread fell over him. What would it be like this time? Who, or _what_ , was coming out of that door today?

Sans remembered a good number of things from every past timeline. He had the easiest time recalling things that reoccurred every time, such as interactions with monsters that never faltered from a script. The only noticeable variations were the direct result of what he or the kid did, because they were the only ones who weren't entirely trapped in endless repetition. Well, not really—there was the flower. And it seemed that some monsters remembered slivers of past conversations, maybe; just not enough to make a difference.

Sans knew his memory wasn't perfect, though. It always felt like remembering dreams. In fact, sometimes he wasn't sure if what he remembered was really a dream or not. Experiencing so many parallel lives no doubt did a quite number of Sans' sense of reality. Sans closed his eyes and tried to focus—what did he remember from the last go around? Not much at all, admittedly. But that was alright, he had the Constant.

The Constant was a project Sans had been working on for years and years—going back to when Gaster was still around. It was nowhere near complete, and probably never would be, but it still had a few very useful functionalities. It was a massive computer; the house was built around it to protect its sizeable and delicate parts. It needed a lot of power and used much of the same technology as the Core—just on a much smaller scale. Because of the machine's location in Snowdin, it was cheap and easy to keep from overheating.

The special things about the Constant were a few pieces of hardware that made up its memory. Most computer parts are made of metals such as silicon, gold, copper, zinc, and other materials familiar to both monsters and humans. But the Constant used something special; an entirely new kind of substance discovered through experiments with magic and Determination.

A brief science/history lesson: computer technology was designed by man—its circuits were built to work with electricity. Monsters adopted the transistor and other important human inventions through clever reverse-engineering, and then moved on to adapt that technology to work with magic. Both the Core and the Constant were made with magic circuits, engineered by Gaster back when this form of technology was brand new. Modern magic technology was much more advanced—even entire jetpacks could be fit into something the size of a cellphone. Moore's Law and all that.

The special thing about the Constant that no other machine had, as far as Sans knew, was Determination. This substance was powerful and had more than just life-giving properties (an area of study that Alphys chose to explore). It also had the ability to exist outside of time, in the right contexts. When Gaster was alive, Sans and several other researchers worked for him in a team to study Determination's peculiar characteristics. The end goal was to create a time machine, but Gaster realized that before he could even begin to think about going to other times, they would have to have something to keep them anchored to reality. Something constant—something that would stay static no matter what changes occur outside of it. Any alterations made to the Constant would stick not only after they were made, but before they were made and even parallel to when they were made. This would make time travel much easier to deal with, hopefully.

Of course, when the Constant was being built, this was all just a hypothesis. There wasn't really a good way to test it—that would come later, when they got the time machine working. But they never really made it that far. Sans felt it was incredibly lucky that the machine worked exactly as Gaster expected it to.

Anyway, the Constant wasn't entirely made with Determination. That just wasn't practical. Only parts that made up memory were truly constants. That's where he kept his notes. Every iteration through the time loop, he recorded everything he could. Every minute detail he thought would help him. Most of it was just raw data on all kinds of things—magic density at certain locations throughout the Underground, weather patterns, that sort of thing. Additionally, he recorded details on the kid's movements, collected through Alphys' camera feeds. He also wrote notes himself. However, memory space on the Constant was limited, and he didn't exactly have a backup hard drive that _also_ existed outside of time itself. One of Sans' projects was to find ways to compress data as efficiently as possible; in fact he dedicated a section of the computer's precious memory for his own experimentation and research with data compression (a frustrating process; Sans was no software engineer).

The skeleton gave a long yawn. He couldn't just keep sitting around in bed thinking. Judging by the scent of burnt alfredo coming from downstairs, Papyrus was wide awake and it wouldn't be long before he came bursting in. Sans, with a slight groggy wobble, pulled himself out of bed and threw on a blue hoodie and some slippers. He tried to keep many things the same through every timeline (keep unnecessary variation to a minimum); this outfit was one of them. With a long, lazy sigh, Sans stepped out of his room.

"SANS?" A voice called from below. Sans couldn't help but grin.

"hey bro. what's up?" Sans leaned on the banister, looking down at the living room below. His brother popped into view from the kitchen, an pot tucked in the crook of his arm. Whatever was inside it seemed to be burned black.

"YOU'RE WHAT'S UP! NYEH HEH HEH!" His brother laughed as he stirred a spoon, with some difficulty, through the thick charred paste.

"good one, pap." Sans responded with a chuckle. He made his way downstairs and Papyrus returned to the kitchen. He heard his brother (loudly) mutter that the alfredo sauce needed more salt.

"WOULD YOU LIKE SOME SPAGHETTI FOR BREAKFAST?"

"i'm good bro, save me some in the hot fridge." Sans made his way to the door.

Papyrus looked over at him. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

"i'm late for work." Sans looked back with his characteristic smile. "gotta be there if a human shows up."

Papyrus brightened. "THAT IS RIGHT, SANS! I'M SO HAPPY YOU ARE STARTING TO TAKE YOUR JOB SERIOUSLY!"

"thanks, pap. it's all thanks to you." He winked. "you inspire me _tibia_ better guard." With that, Sans stepped outside, chuckling at Papyrus's groans behind him.

Once the door was closed, Sans allowed his grin to fade. He glanced at his phone again and realized he really _was_ running late. He didn't even have an hour before the human would show. Why did he sleep so long this time? He rubbed his skull with a frown. Whatever happened in the last timeline must've been unusually tiring.

He took a shortcut and was down in his lab. He plugged his phone into the massive machine and started downloading files from the last timeline. "woah." He frowned when an error popped up on the phone's touch screen: NOT ENOUGH MEMORY SPACE. DOWNLOAD CANCELLED. Whatever notes he'd collected in the last run, it was a _lot_. Too much for his phone to handle. That was concerning. Sans fooled around on the computer a few minutes before deciding to only download a text file of notes he himself had written through the last run. It was still much larger than expected, but at least the size was manageable.

Curious as he was, Sans didn't have time to look through the notes just then—he had to get everything set up before the kid arrived. He started up some programs he's written off the Constant's memory, which would start recording and compressing all kinds of raw data for him to analyze later. He had to do this first thing every timeline; he was sure there were important answers to be found in studying the environment during these loops. He noticed that were always subtle variations in certain parts of the Underground; he was hoping to figure out what caused them. He hypothesized that there were all kinds of things that existed at least partly outside of the time loop like he did—maybe, if he knew where to look, he could find them and make use of them.

Once everything was finally up and running (Sans was always careful to double and triple check), the skeleton looked at the time. Crap, he was cutting it close. He would have to check his notes after greeting the kid. Sans glanced through the lab one last time, gave another long sigh, and took a shortcut.

Suddenly, he was standing in fresh snow that reached his knee caps. It seemed especially chilly that day, but then again, it always did. The doors were still closed, good. Sans looked down at his cell phone and with a nervous frown, opened his notes.

The first thing he read was "saw gaster today."

Before Sans could even register the meaning of that sentence, he heard the sound of great heavy doors opening. He slipped the cellphone into his pocket and exchanged it for a whoopee cushion. He pushed his hundreds of questions to the back of his mind, exhaled slowly, and put on a smile.


	3. Ghost Story

As expected, Sans was nowhere to be seen. No doubt he was nearby, watching you and waiting to make his greeting. You couldn't understand why Sans followed the same script every time; you were certain he remembered. As hard as he tried to stay casual around you, he could never really relax after Chara. Not that you blamed him. You weren't trustworthy anymore.

You took a few moments to survey the woods. It smelled like pine trees and snow. Before you was a long, narrow path. A wall of long trees towered over you, the repetitive pattern of trunks left you feeling somewhat dizzy. You looked over at the unassuming bush besides you and saw the glint of a camera lens. You decided to give it a wave, just for Alphys. With one final look at the doors, now locked behind you, you began walking.

The snow was light and soft. You left perfect footprints behind you; they seemed far too tiny to be yours. Somewhere behind you, a twig snapped. He always snapped the twig, as if he thought it'd scare you. You reached the bridge.

"human."

You turned. He held out a bony hand for you to shake; you knew what was coming. It wasn't really funny anymore, but you felt obligated to laugh at the whoopee cushion's noise. You always made sure to play along, unlike Chara. Chara hated these games.

Something was a little off this time. You knew Sans well; despite your distant relationship, you knew how to read him. You don't actually remember ever putting the script aside and just talking to him frankly, but you had a feeling that may have happened once or twice in the past. He knew a lot about what was going on, maybe even more than you did. He seemed nervous and distracted to you now—not obviously so, but you could tell something was off in the way he delivered his lines.

The two of you crossed the bridge, you hid behind the lamp. You peeked over the lampshade when Papyrus came into view and smiled despite yourself. You loved him dearly. You had killed him before—you'd killed them all before, but you knew he was the only one who'd forgive you. You sometimes wondered if the monsters remembered past lives; they seemed unsure themselves. Papyrus' first look at you often had a glimmer of recognition. With most monsters, that recognition had a hint of fear. Even Toriel looked at you that way from time to time. But Papyrus? He only had love for you, it seemed. Platonic of course—Papyrus always made that clear.

Sans did something very different while his brother spoke. He pulled out a phone and looked at it—Papyrus noticed and gave an aggravated stomp.

"SANS! THAT IS VERY RUDE!"

The smaller skeleton startled and quickly slipped it away. "uh, sorry pap. didn't mean to act like such a _phone_ -y."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THAT THING ANYWAY! I THOUGHT YOU HATED CELL PHONES!"

"nah, i love them. my favorite brand's _sans_ ung." He gave a wink, looking especially proud of that one. You wondered how Sans knew about human phone brands.

You waited patiently as the two went back and forth—Papyrus finally relented and left the conversation with a pun of his own. Something about backbones. You stepped from behind the lamp and caught Sans once again looking at his phone.

"What's going on?" You asked, startling him again. He looked at you with his usual smile, but you could clearly see the apprehension on his face.

"nothing. just… uh, something funny happened." You raised an eyebrow. "let's go. pap's got some puzzles waiting."

Reluctantly, you agreed to follow him onward—but he had your attention. As Papyrus led you through each puzzle, you watched Sans. Every moment he could, he was reading something on that phone of his. And maybe your eyes were deceiving you—but his bones seemed to pale in fear once or twice.

After the anticlimactic bridge puzzle, when Papyrus headed into Snowdin, you grabbed Sans' sleeve. "What's going on?" You ask him, putting on your most serious face.

Sans smiled at you wearily for several moments; finally he spoke. "kid, what do you remember about last time?"

You furrowed your brow—Sans rarely acknowledged other lives so openly; he usually preferred to not involve you in whatever it is he did. "Not much at all," you admitted. "But it was… whatever happened, it was different from usual."

He nodded and closed his eyes. "i'm not fully caught up yet but…" He sighed. "you were merciful. we made it to the surface and we stayed there a long time—for years. a lot happened. i wrote a lot. and something happened… something i don't understand right now." He shook his head. "it's too much to explain here. stay with us tonight, pap won't mind." You agreed. Sans nodded. "i'll go tell him."

You spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the town. Sans told you to come by in the evening—that's when he'd be ready for you. You were antsy. There wasn't much to do in town, and all you could think of was whatever it was Sans had to tell you. You tried passing time by resting at the Inn, but your thoughts kept you up even worse than the snoring next door. You squished the pillows to your ears, which only did so much to block out your snoozing neighbors, and let out a sigh. Why couldn't he just tell you now? What could possibly have happened? Sans mentioned that he'd written a lot in the past life, you tried to understand what that meant. Did he have some way of keeping things from previous lives? You tried to think back to all your past conversations. You remembered a lab and some sort of machine, but you never recalled getting an explanation of what it all was for. Maybe that's where Sans was right now.

With a sudden rush of determination, you hopped out of bed. You were sick of waiting around and resolved to go find that stupid skeleton and make him explain. You didn't have time for his distrust or caution—whatever was wrong, you were anxious to get to the bottom of it.

After getting your refund from the innkeeper, you made your way to the skeleton brothers' home, taking a shortcut through the igloos. You knocked firmly on the door, not really expecting anyone to bother answering. But Papyrus, bless his soul, opened the door.

"FRISK! YOU'RE EARLY! SANS TOLD ME ABOUT THE SLUMBER PARTY!"

You smiled warmly. "Hope I'm not putting you out."

The skeleton gave you his biggest smile and pulled you inside by your hand. "DON'T BE SILLY! YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE!"

You were happy to be out of the cold and see that the brothers' couch had been made into a bed—complete with a teddy bear—for you to sleep in. You put down your knapsack (filled with cinnamon buns, bicycles, and your cell phone) beside the couch. "I WAS JUST ABOUT TO START DINNER, BUT NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE YOU CAN HELP OUT! WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO EAT?"

"Hmm, I don't know." You pretended to think it over. "I'm a little in the mood for something… Italian." Papyrus gave you a look of confusion—oh right, you guessed that was an obscure reference down here. "Spaghetti." You clarified.

He brightened right up at that. "WHAT A GOOD IDEA! WE THINK SO ALIKE! DO YOU WANT TO HELP?"

You grinned and nodded. Judging from his teacher's cooking methods, you were sure this would be a fun experience. Hopefully not as destructive, however. The two of you made your way to the kitchen. Papyrus's first task for you was to get some water boiling while he gathered the pasta and sauce ingredients. A large empty pot in your hands, you stared up at the ridiculously tall sink and began formulating a plan to reach its spout near the ceiling. You decided to use the large pot as a step ladder to first reach the more reasonably-sized counter, and then again to reach the top of the sink from there. Letting your legs dangle over the side, you thoroughly rewashed the pot in the sink and then filled it halfway up with water.

But now, there was a new problem. You peered past your feet down all the way at the ground—how would you get back down again? "Papyrus?" You called out, but the skeleton was nowhere around (earlier you heard him mention needing to run out and pick up some relish for the primavera sauce). You looked around your immediate area, hoping for something rope-like you could use to gently ease the pot to the floor safely, but there was nothing good in reach. Finding no better alternatives, you wearily decided that you'd just have to do your best to climb down with as little spillage as possible. You leaned into the sink and, with great struggle, pulled the pot heavy with water out of the sink and into your lap. It squished your legs uncomfortably. You firmly grabbed the pots two handles and scooted off the sink, aiming to land on the counter.

Something went wrong, however, and instead you started falling the much longer distance all the way to the floor. But instead of the impact you expected, a sick familiar feeling entered your gut as you suddenly found yourself floating just inches above the floor unhurt. You looked up and saw Sans in the doorway, a single blue flame emanating from his left eye.

"what're you doing, kiddo." He asked as he gently released his magic on you. You fell the rest of the small distance with a plop and some water splashed in your face. You were happy to see most of it still remained in the pot where it belonged, though.

"We're making dinner." You explained as you set the pot on the floor carefully and stood up to dust yourself off and wipe your face dry with your sleeve.

Sans looked around. "where's pap?"

"I'M RIGHT HERE!" The taller of the brothers suddenly burst in, startling you both. "FRISK! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN GOT IT ON THE STOVE YET! YOU HAVE MUCH TO LEARN ABOUT COOKING!"

"You're right. Boiling water is a lot harder than I thought," you agreed. "I almost hurt myself really bad."

"OH NO!" Papyrus kneeled to give you an apologetic hug. "I'M SORRY, I SHOULD'VE BEEN SUPERVISING! COOKING CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS AND YOU ARE ONLY A CHILD!" You hugged him back. He smelled like anime powder. Once your moment of affection had passed, Papyrus took the pot of water and put it on the stove. At some point, Sans had left without a word.

The two of you spent the next hour cooking—there were a handful of small unplanned fires, but Papyrus seemed very practiced in handling them. ("UNDYNE SAYS GREASE FIRES ARE THE MARK OF A TRUE MASTER CHEF!") Together, you both created what Papyrus declared his best creation yet. The spaghetti had chocolate chips and the sauce was uncomfortably thick with bay leaves, but you couldn't deny how proud you were. After much yelling, Papyrus managed to drag Sans downstairs for you all to eat together ("AS A FAMILY!")

Papyrus served everyone their plate, using orange slices and grapes as smiley-face shaped garnishes. Sans took a bite. "wow, i'm impressed. i thought food this good was an im _pasta_ ble achievement."

"SANS! YOU'VE ALREADY SAID THAT ONE BEFORE! AT LEAST USE NEW MATERIAL!"

"you're right, i'm just an im _pasta_."

"SANS!"

"That isn't very humerus," You pointed out.

"FRISK NO!"

"don't get upset bro, we're just _rib_ bing you."

Despite himself, Papyrus was laughing. And so were you. It was marvelous how some time in his company could completely turn your mood around—there were still serious worries in the back of your mind, but it was a relief to just enjoy yourself. Neither you nor Sans finished your dinners, but Papyrus wasn't offended. After dinner, you all gathered on the couch to watch tv, with you in the middle and the blanket across all of your laps. While you were perfectly happy to cuddle platonically with Papyrus, you and Sans both made an effort to keep from touching. You just weren't comfortable near each other—you were painfully aware of his dislike for you.

Which is why it surprised you when you realized you had dozed off on his shoulder in the night. You sat up suddenly, causing Papyrus (who had been using your head as a pillow) to mutter in his sleep. Sans looked at you, he was wide awake.

"did you know you mutter in your sleep?" He asked, voice low to keep from disturbing his brother.

You looked at your feet in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"s'okay." He shrugged. "so do i. are you ready?"

You perked up and nodded. Was he really finally able to explain everything?

He glanced at his snoozing brother. "c'mon. you gotta take my hand for this." Uncertainly, you did, and the two of you carefully left Papyrus sleeping comfortably on the couch. You both walked outside the house—boy, it was _freezing_ out—and abruptly he led you through a shortcut. It was a little disorienting, but you found yourself in a room you vaguely remembered from past lives. San's lab. It smelled like dust bunnies.

He dropped your hand and made his way to the covered machine in the corner. He pulled the sheet away, revealing a huge computer that seemed to be built into the walls. He tapped on a keyboard and a terminal pulled up on the screen. A few moments passed and finally he turned to you.

"oh, uh, let me explain. i think i told you all this in a past loop, but your memory's almost as bad as mine so it's ok if you forgot." And so, he explained to you what the Constant was and how it worked. His speech seemed vaguely familiar to you and you had an easy time relearning the concepts.

"like I said earlier, in the last loop, a lot happened. years went by and we were all on the surface. but uh, on the first day of the loop, something really weird happened. a, uh… a guy showed up. you opened the doors to the ruins and stepped out like usual but… you were holding his _hand_. do you remember this at all?"

You stared at him and shook your head. "he, er, his name's gaster. i used to know him way back. he…" An uncertain pause. "…died. long before your time. but there he was, holding your hand like you were bff's. when i approached you, he vanished into thin air. we were both freaked out, but we couldn't do anything about it. we just went on ahead with the puzzles." He rubbed the back of his skull. "later on we… forgot he was ever even there. if i didn't have my notes, i would be totally unaware."

"How did I know him?"

"you just said you met him in the ruins. said he was your guide."

You stared hard at Sans. What he was saying… it was a little hard to believe. But you didn't think Sans would mess with you like this. He was too dedicated to following the script. Unless this was a new weird strategy.

"i keep track of all kinds of things during every run, like the flow of magical energy through the underground. alphys has sensors set up everywhere, just like with cameras. to look for anything that could help." _Help with what?_ You wondered. "when I saw gaster with you, it got weird. the sensors got intense highs and lows. it was like gaster was a magnet of energy. when he disappeared it all went back to normal. later on in the run, i noticed more of those magical abnormalities around you. i think he was with you again, many times."

"Why?"

Sans shrugged with a frown. "i don't know. maybe he was trying to guide you s'more… or influence your choices."

"How do you know it's the same man that you knew? How could a dead monster be alive?"

"trust me, if i said its him, its him." The skeleton shifted nervously. "and i don't know how he came back."

You frowned and rubbed your chin. An idea popped up in your head. "What about Determination? Alphys did it before. She reversed death."

"um. maybe." The anxious look on Sans face told you that he clearly wasn't comfortable telling you the whole story yet. Fine, another time then.

"Well, what do we do about this?"

The skeleton wilted. "i don't know exactly yet. i don't know how to find him again… maybe we already did and forgot. he could've been eating dinner with us and we have no idea." The thought chilled you. "but it's good that you know. when you see him, you'll know to… i don't know, take a picture or something."

"But I don't know what he looks like."

Sans frowned for a moment, and then went over to the shelves. He shuffled around some, and finally pulled up an old photo and handed it to you. There were all kinds of people in the image, including Sans himself. It was a little jarring to see how glad he looked. Not that Sans didn't smile all the time but… he looked happier around the eyes. Sans interrupted yours thoughts to point at the tallest figure in the center of the photo. It was another skeleton, wearing a black suit over a white turtle neck. You were certain you had never seen him in your life.

"that's him. w. d. gaster."

You studied his face, committing it to memory. You wished the photo was higher resolution.

"Sans, this is…" You put the picture back on the shelf. "A lot. I don't know where to go from here."

"i think we should stick together for the rest of the run, in case he comes back again. i want to keep my eye on you."

"How do you know you won't drive him away again, like you did in your notes?"

"i can keep my distance."

You sighed. "It won't be like other lives. We already changed a lot of things with this sleepover. I know you hate big changes."

Sans raised a brow. "i don't hate them, it's just better to keep things... ok yeah, they bother me. it's just, the last time you went really off script you murdered—" He paused abruptly and cleared his throat. "er, yeah. look, its late. you must be exhausted, kid. let's sleep on it. we can figure everything out in the morning."

He took your hand and then you were suddenly once again back outside the house, in the freezing cold. You both rushed inside, back into the comfort of the indoors. While you were gone, Papyrus had taken over the entire couch for sleeping. You both looked at him a few moments.

"c'mon." Sans whispered. "sleep in my room." You looked at him incredulously. "in case gaster shows up. i _said_ i'm keeping my eye on you."

"You know, for such a lazy skeleton, you really are neurotic." You informed him.

"yeah yeah yeah, i know." He ushered you upstairs in his room. He had no working lights, but your eyes were quickly adjusting to the dark. It smelled like socks.

After a few minutes of wrestling with a self-sustained tornado of trash ( _how?_ ), Sans was able to obtain a ball of sheets. You watched him fumble to unravel it and set the bed, before you finally joined in to help. Once the bed was decent enough, you climbed on.

"No blanket?" You asked. This really was a sad setup.

Sans rolled his eyes and left the room. A second later, and he was back with a race car themed blanket. "pap won't mind." He tossed it to you.

You settled in and were surprised to find the bed oddly comfortable. Was this memory foam? Sans went and took a seat on his dresser. "Are you just going to sit there all night?" You asked him.

"i'll be fine. go to sleep."

The two of you glared at one another a few moments. Sans white pupils glowed in the dark. With an angry sigh, you turned yourself around and faced the wall. You expected to be up all night, considering all that weighed on your mind, but within half an hour you were already drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **Wow, this one was a doozy to write. It took me some time to really decide on the direction I want to go, but I think I have it figured out now! I'll no doubt be making a few edits here and there tomorrow, I'm very sleep deprived and probably missing a _lot_ of typos.**

 **In case somebody is hoping for any kind of romance between Frisk and, well, any other character, I'm gonna let you know right now that I am definitely not planning on it. In this story, Frisk transcends romance. Also they're a just a kid. It's true that they have reached adulthood in the past, but right now they're a kid with a kid brain and a kid body, so they are gonna be sticking to kid stuff. That said, Frisk absolutely is still capable of being adorable and platonically affectionate with their skelebros!**


	4. A Long Night

Sans didn't allow himself to sleep. He instead decided to spend the entire night reading over his notes—keeping the screen as dim as possible for the slumbering kid's sake. It seemed that despite past Sans' interest in Gaster, he unfortunately didn't figure out much. All he really had were some old files detailing Gaster's activities and research just before death and what Sans had already explained to Frisk—the magic magnetism that Gaster's ghost(?) seemed to have. The files he found were vague and full of holes, but they were all that could be found. Sans didn't have Gaster's files saved anywhere on the Constant, but the notes detailed where they could be found in the Royal Archives.

Sans, in the last run, mentioned adding some code to the program that collected data form Alphys' sensors to automatically detect and alert him via text when and where Gaster (or some other weird magical anomaly) made an appearance. The skeleton checked his messages—nope, no Gaster alarm so far. But Alphys didn't have a way to get sensors in the ruins, so Sans couldn't be sure whether Gaster had been there or not. In the past run, the Gaster alarm had gone off a couple of times (always near where Frisk happened to be), but Sans always seemed to arrive too late to catch him.

As for the kid—they were perfectly merciful, which was common in recent iterations. Sans, Papyrus, and many other friends helped Frisk defeat that evil flower thing and open the doors to the surface. This outcome had happened a few times before. The first time they found the surface, he naively believed it meant he was free from the endless restarts. What a fool. Something always happened, the kid always started it over within the first year of reaching the surface. Sans never really knew why.

For some reason, the last run didn't end the same way. It went on for years and years. As the notes continued on, they became less like documentation and more like some kind of diary. Sans read thoughts he didn't recall ever thinking that resonated deep within him. Thoughts about the kid, about the murders, about being trapped in this endless looping so long. He read about his fears that it was all dream he'd wake up from, or worse, that he was still stuck in the loop (which, of course, turned out to be sadly true). He wrote about waking up every day and wondering if it would be his last day before it all started over again.

He also wrote about his relationships, how friends became family. He even became close to Frisk, but admitted to his private notes that he would probably never feel safe around them. The present Sans had to agree on that as he glanced over at the child—even asleep, they made him nervous. Sans was surprised to read that he moved in with Frisk and Toriel after a couple of years. Past Sans seemed to write a lot about Toriel; he wrote about her jokes, her fears, her passions, her bad habits. He wrote about her pain, too. Pain from losing her entire family at once. From living in solitude for so long. From all the human children lost. He never wrote it explicitly, but Sans had fallen in love with her.

Papyrus, when he wasn't doing important mascot work, made a living in therapy. He wasn't certified or anything, but kind of like a therapy dog, he travelled to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, prisons, and all other places where people suffered. Sans wrote how much he admired this—Papyrus dedicated himself to going to people and easing their emotional burdens, giving away his overflowing love and support to those who needed it. He wrote about his worries that his brother was overextending himself—the taller skeleton often came home drained and unhappy. He seemed to sleep longer, too. Sans wrote about trying to talk to him, trying to convince him to take a vacation. Papyrus has responded that if others didn't have the luxury to escape from their problems, he shouldn't either. There were no mentions of a resolution to this problem, which deeply concerned both the past and present Sans. He decided if they made it to the surface again, he would address this problem early on. Find some way to push Papyrus into a more selfish line of work.

Sans had written in detail about monsters and humans—their strange and distant relationship. There were a few acts of violence committed against monsters. Notably, Mettaton himself dealt with bomb scares at many of his concerts. Apparently, there were humans who couldn't stomach seeing a single monster become so famous. What was strange was that monsters were so, so massively outnumbered by humans; at most there were maybe a few thousand monsters while the global human population reached billions. Even a monster that had consumed human souls would be no match against many human weapons—terrible things so powerful they could eviscerate entire cities within seconds. Sans could barely believe what he read about the humans, the insanity that they had achieved. How could they feel so threatened by monsters when they themselves were destroying the world so efficiently on their own?

Sans also had written a lot about the physical parts of the surface. Wide open spaces, blankets of stars, mountains and valleys that overwhelmed him. The Earth was the size of a hundred billion Undergrounds. He couldn't comprehend the size of the oceans, even when he saw them with his own eyes. Sans could begin to see how there were so many humans and so little monsters, considering how much space each group had to spread out.

Of course, there were other reasons for population differences as well. Monsters can live a very, very long time. King Dreemur held his royal title since even before monsters were driven into Mt. Ebbot by the humans. The death of a monster is considered just rare enough to be well discussed, even by those the monster never met. Because of their long lifespans, monsters didn't really have children very often at all. The children they _did_ have could afford to grow up slowly. Meanwhile, humans (who usually didn't even get to live a century) could over the years have as many as twenty children if they really wanted to. Children weren't born at such a high rate in _all_ countries—wealth and environment seems to play a big part in birthrates—but there were many places where overpopulation was a serious concern. Too many humans led to famine, disease, oppression, and general unhappiness. Additionally, violence was so disturbingly common, the humans even invented the word 'genocide' (a word that made Sans shiver) as a way describe the deliberate killing of most or all of a population of people. Sans reflected that as terrible as things were for monsters, their problems were relatively small compared to the suffering many humans seemed to face. Of course, Sans was quick to point out in his writing, that didn't invalidate the monsters' suffering—it just shows that misery is inescapable in the presence of humanity.

Sans had written about much more—all the details of his friends and the directions their lives took (interestingly, Frisk ended up having several children but never married). Sans saw that the night was coming to an end and soon the kid would wake up. He rushed through the notes and finally approached the end. This is what he read:

"dec 8. the kiddo isn't a kid anymore. the last few years, they've been dealing with all sorts of health problems. especially in their brain. they can't even remember our names sometimes. sometimes they think they're back in the underground again. what hell must it be like to think you're still trapped in that fucking loop? is it worse when it's real or when it's in your head? they started having panic attacks again. their own broken brain triggers them. worried they're gonna hurt themselves.

dec 13. toriel put the kid into hospice care a couple days ago. humans and monsters alike have been visiting them in a steady stream since, except for when the staff kicks them out. there isn't enough room for all the flowers people send. by law, no monsters are allowed to be near frisk when they die because humans are so scared a monster will take a soul. only the kid's human family and friends are permitted when that time comes. toriel's a mess and i don't blame her. she's watching one of her own children die all over again. papyrus is the only one who seems at ease in this stupid hospice. he's holding the rest of us together.

dec 15. i'm scared, honestly. what is going to happen when the kid dies? will it all start over again? are we still in the loop? after all this time, i never told a monster about the loop. i tried talking to frisk about it, they're the only one who knows. but they weren't waking up and the nurse kicked me out. visiting hours are over i guess. i can't sleep. i remember how it was too vividly. all the old nightmares have come back. i don't want frisk to die. but they will. all i can do is hope they stay dead. please, please, let the loop be over.

dec 16. thought i saw a familiar face when i visited the kid today. glimpsed him through the half open door, but when i entered he vanished. funny thing is, i just can't quite remember who it was as i'm writing this. whoever it was really scared me. docs are saying the kid doesn't have much longer. the crowd of humans and monsters gathered outside the building is massive. mettaton said the whole world is already mourning. only frisk's kids and grandkids are allowed in the room. probably only a few hours now. god i'm scared."

And there, the notes ended. Sans' expression darkened. He had a guess at who he had seen in that room He had two hypotheses: either Gaster caused the reset, or the reset was going to happen anyway and he was there for something else. Neither one sounded good. Sans rubbed his skull, suddenly noticing the headache he had. Well, that's what happens when you stare at a tiny screen for hours instead of sleeping. He heard shuffling coming over from the bed, the kid must be waking up. The skeleton wondered if he should tell them about their own death later.

"Sans?" Came a pathetically small voice from under the race car blanket.

"yeah buddy? what's up?"

There were a few moments of silence. "Nothing. Just a nightmare."

Sans decided he wouldn't tell them.


	5. Making Friends

**Please excuse any errors made when typing this, I'll probably be making a few edits later on. Warning, there are suicide mentions/implications in this. Also some violence. Be careful, kids. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Blue flashes swept across your vision. Every movement you made was excruciating. You could feel something sickening crunch around in your ribcage. Despite the pain, you couldn't be still. Someone else was moving your body.

Was it the skeleton? Each twist of his arm flung you from wall to ceiling to floor. No, but it wasn't him who made you grip your hand around the handle of the knife so tight your knuckled ached. Someone else was making you smile. Someone else was screaming—no, laughing in your head, drowning out the dull thumps of your body against marble. You were exhausted, and so was Sans. But Chara wouldn't let you stop.

You almost died. A lot. But they knew what would happen if your soul broke in two. They weren't willing to let you start all over. To hope that you'd let them back in again. They wouldn't let you die.

Finally, though, they got him. You got him. You cut him down. Something red leaked from his ribs. He wouldn't let you watch him die. It didn't matter, you couldn't see anything anyways. Your sight was going out. You lost your sense of color, and blackness creeped in from the edges of your vision. Numbness overcame you. It was all fading. You didn't feel your body slump against the wall. _Fine_ , Chara told you _, rest. There's no rush._

You woke up and felt an intense sadness within yourself that made you ill. You remembered Sans' face and grief in the form of a sharp pain stabbed into your throat. But this wasn't the marble room. It was dark and smelled of socks. You gently pulled the blanket from your face.

"Sans?" Your throat was hoarse.

"yeah buddy? what's up?"

You exhaled slowly. He was alive. It was over. The dream was real, you knew it happened. But it was over. You were you. You still kept the promise to yourself—stay away from violence, never let them in again. But violence in dreams, you knew, could bring them closer. Chara gave you those memories in your dreams because it made their presence stronger. You could almost feel your mouth wanting to twitch into a smile; you knew that was them. "Nothing. Just a nightmare." You said softly.

The skeleton sat in silence a few more minutes, just like you. Something heavy lingered in both of your minds, it seemed. You wondered if he actually slept or not. When you couldn't stand it anymore, you climbed out of bed. Without a word, you left Sans there and went downstairs. Papyrus was nowhere around, but the blankets on the couch had been neatly folded with the teddy bear resting on top. You regretfully had to go outside to pee. You had to walk all the way to the river to wash up—you had no interest in attempting to climb the towering kitchen sink again. You returned to the skeleton brothers' home shivering cold.

When you walked back inside, Sans was in the kitchen. It smelled good. He glanced over at you. "thought you'd want cinnamon pancakes for breakfast." You wondered if Toriel had told him you loved cinnamon in some past life or if it was just a coincidence. You joined the skeleton in the kitchen and watched him work.

"Didn't know you cooked."

"not usually, but i don't want to be a _crepe_ -y host."

You grinned and rolled your eyes. Soon, he had two stacks of pancakes ready for eating. He also found some butterscotch syrup to pour over. Wow, this had to be her influence.

The two of you sat with your food at the table and began eating in silence. The food was pretty good—not as good as Toriel's cooking, but good. You didn't realize how hungry you were. At one point, Sans put his fork down.

"we need to start planning how we're going to do this. i'm going to give you my cell phone number so that we can stay in touch."

You sighed. "I don't know how I feel about this whole… you watching me thing. It's weird enough when it's just Alphys. We don't know anything about this Gaster. How do we know he's not here right now, listening in?"

Sans frowned. "we don't know how he can appear or observe us. my equipment can detect him at least occasionally, when he messes with the magic in the atmosphere. maybe he doesn't always have to do that to be around. truth is, we don't know nearly enough to make any informed decisions. that's why right now, all we're doing is gathering information. that's why i have to watch you, because so far all we really know is he shows up around you."

"What if he never shows up in this life? What if that was just a onetime thing?"

"maybe, but i doubt it kid. he's… there's something up."

His thought seemed incomplete, so you waited for him to finish. After a few silent moments, it was clear he wasn't going to say anything else. You sighed. "Alright. But I don't want you hiding around. If you're following me, do it in the open. I don't like feeling stalked."

The skeleton thought it over. He didn't seem happy about the idea, but relented. "fine. but in the next run, we're doing it my way."

You groaned internally. You really hoped this thing wouldn't drag on into the next run. You never expected yourself to wish things were back to before, but you unhappy with this weird new partnership you had with the skeleton. You preferred the comfortable distance the two of you usually kept.

Abruptly, the door opened. "OH!" You turned to see Papyrus in the door, looking surprised. "YOU'RE BOTH AWAKE! THAT'S GREAT! I THOUGHT YOU'D BE SLEEPING IN!"

"in your dreams." Sans winked. "we want to get an early start today. i'm taking the human to the king."

"WOW, REALLY?" Papyrus studied you for a few confused moments. "WELL, THAT WORKS! I GUESS THAT'S WHAT UNDYNE WOULD WANT… I'LL LET HER KNOW!"

"that's alright, we'll see her the way there."

The taller brother pouted. "THIS ISN'T FAIR, YOU GET TO GO ON ADVENTURES WITH THE HUMAN AND I'M STUCK HERE!"

You sat up and smiled. "Do you want to come, Papyrus?"

The skeleton brightened up considerably. "ABSOLUTELY! LET ME GO GET MY ADVENTURING STUFF!" Papyrus excitedly ran inside and to his room, his long legs taking two stairs at a time with ease.

Sans smiled at you, but you could tell he was a little annoyed. "not gonna do much good for the gaster situation." You shrugged. Sans chuckled. "oh well. i was about ready to invite him too. can't say no to my bro."

Papyrus returned quickly, carrying a full backpack and wearing camouflage pants. "I'M READY TO EXPLORE!" He glanced towards the pancakes you had been eating. "OH MY—FRISK IT'S OKAY TO TURN DOWN SANS' COOKING ONCE IN A WHILE, YOU KNOW! YOU DON'T _HAVE_ TO EAT THAT STUFF!"

Sans grinned. "aw, kid's just trying to be polite." He stood from the table and started clearing away the plates. "i have some stuff to do. let's all meet on the road to waterfall in an hour, k?" After somehow managing to set the dishes in the sink to be washed, the skeleton walked out of sight and disappeared. You wondered how he always did that.

Once Sans was gone, you began to gather your things. Papyrus wiggled around enthusiastically. "THIS IS SO EXCITING! I AM GOING TO LIVE BLOG THE EXPERIENCE! I WILL START RIGHT NOW!" The skeleton pulled out his phone and started tapping away on the screen urgently. It didn't take long for you to get everything together—it wasn't like you had a lot of stuff. You tugged on the skeleton's sleeve, he looked down at you with a smile. "READY TO GO?" You nodded.

The two of you stepped outside the house again. It was a little warmer than earlier, which you were thankful for. You asked Papyrus if you could do some shopping—it couldn't hurt to stock up on food. He agreed and the two of you spent the next little while on the east side of town, talking with the shopkeeper. Afterwards you suggested going to Grillby's to say hello to the dogs, but Papyrus adamantly refused. He called the place a "GREASE BUCKET!"

After a few more minutes of wandering, you both decided it was time to meet with Sans. You both went to the meeting spot and waited around quite a while—seems as though the shorter skeleton was running late. Papyrus looked over at you. "I'M REALLY GLAD I DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT YOU." He admitted. "I DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO HAVE TO USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK ON YOU. YOU'RE TOO NICE!"

You beamed up at him. "I'm glad, too! It's better this way. Less lonely, kind of."

"YEAH! I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO MEET UNDYNE! SHE'S REALLY COOL!" The skeleton fished out his phone and showed you a picture. It was a selfie; Papyrus was giving the peace symbol and Undyne was beaming a toothy, aggressive smile.

"I don't know if she's going to like me very much at first." You warned. "She hates humans. It's her job to ki—er, to capture me." You remembered that Papyrus didn't really know how it all worked—how Asgore really planned to opened the door to the outside. He didn't know you would have to die. You wondered if Sans was the one who made sure he never heard about that. You didn't want to be the one to tell him.

"WHEN WE EXPLAIN TO HER THAT SANS AND I ARE HERE TO ESCORT YOU, SHE'LL UNDERSTAND! IT'S KIND OF LIKE YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN CAPTURED BY US! MAYBE SHE'LL EVEN WANT TO COME! AND THEN YOU TWO COULD BECOME FRIENDS!"

You returned Papyrus' smile. "Yeah, I'd like that!"

"like what?" Sans finally had arrived. You noticed that his pockets were filled with 'dogs.

"BEING UNDYNE'S BEST FRIEND!"

"oh yeah. she's pretty cool. let's go."

And so, the three of you said goodbye to Snowdin and made your way to Waterfall. For the first time ever, you were not alone in your journey. You had to admit it was nice. Your small party made your way through the dark caves, pausing frequently to listen to echo flowers and read signs. It was a sobering place, even Papyrus found himself speaking a little softer there. When you found a pieces of a ballet outfit in reeds and behind a waterfall, Papyrus insisted you put it on immediately. Sans informed you that you looked " _tutu_ bular".

At some point, Monster Kid had shown up to join your group. Papyrus and they got along splendidly and talked and talked as the four of you travelled through the sparkling caves. The two of them were both very fond of Undyne and chatted about their admiration for her. You and Sans decided to walk a little ahead—you preferred the silence, and Sans was too distracted for conversation. The entire journey, he'd been on high alert, always looking around for something and tapping notes into his phone. You were on the boardwalks when a glowing blue spear suddenly landed between the two of you. You and Sans both jumped away from the spot (you almost fell over the edge, but not quite).

"Get away from that human!" Cried the familiar voice of Undyne. A quick look below revealed her, covered in spectacular armor, ready to throw another spear. You remembered how this would go. You ran as fast as your short legs could take you through the boardwalks, doing a decent enough job at avoiding most of her projectiles. You had no clue where your companions were, but you knew they were certainly safe—it wasn't _their_ souls that Undyne wanted, after all. You couldn't avoid all of her spears, and as the chase wore on you were having serious trouble outrunning her. Your wounds were catching up to you. The boardwalk came to a dead end that you didn't notice, and suddenly there was no surface beneath your feet. Down, down into the black abyss you fell.

You woke up in a familiar place. You sat up in a small bed of golden flowers and found shallow water flowing around you. Piles of trash were all around, filled with brands you recognized. It smelled like peat. You stood and slushed your way through the watery caverns, wincing with each step at the pain from your wounds. You knew exactly where you were, but wondered where your companions had gone. Perhaps they were already at Undyne's?

You knew around this bend of debris, the mad dummy would be waiting for you and ready to pick a fight. You opened up a half-buried cooler, expecting to find the astronaut food as usual. You froze, though, when you saw a very out-of-place figure suddenly standing before you. They didn't just pop into sight, it was more like… you were suddenly aware of them.

They were tall, thin, and dark, with a bone-white ovular head and black voids for eyes and a mouth. They looked like they were smiling, but you couldn't be sure if that was on purpose or just the shape of their face. The two of you looked at each other a moment. Somewhere in the back of your mind, questions and alarms went off, but for some reason you couldn't quite understand them.

"Do you want some?" You asked awkwardly, and held out a food bar towards the stranger. Well, what actually came out of your mouth was, "Ogbw Hsnkik herrherrFi?" You furrowed your brow, bewildered by your own words. What the hell? Were you having a stroke?

The stranger said something strange and alien, but somehow you knew what they meant. You dropped the food into the muddy water and reached out towards their extended bony hand. Those alarms in the back of your mind became louder, more panicked. You still didn't understand them, they still felt like gibberish, but they did slow your hand in hesitation. The stranger said something else; you smiled and forgot your doubts. Firmly, your hand curled around his—yes, they were a _he_ , you knew. He was here to help. You had been waiting so, so long for him. He knew how your soul ached, how it sputtered along on your endless quest to find the final ending. Weaker and weaker it felt, every time you woke in a bed of flowers. More and more you wished you could just _stay_ dead. He understood. Gaster was here to help you. He was going to let you die. You had never felt this happy.

All of your fears, your worries, your visceral will to survive… all of it was gone. He would be the one to take care of you now.

The two of you walked together, past the mad dummy who never bothered you, but instead wilted away from the presence of your friend. You were supposed to take a left to meet with your friends but he knew it was better to go right, so you did. Past the sad ghost and the snail farm, you walked. You were vaguely aware that one of your wounds from Undyne had opened up and blood was trickling from your side, but you didn't care. Pain didn't matter to you anymore.

The two of you walked in darkness through the paths (although he seemed to glide more than walk). The plant life around here glowed, but not enough for you see where you were going. He could see fine, though, and led you confidently by the hand. At one point, you tripped over something you couldn't see. Your foot twisted sharply and the pain was enough to make you involuntarily cry—but it didn't really bother you. Pain didn't matter to someone who didn't need to be alive. You managed to keep his pace, despite your new limp.

The two of you reached the end of Waterfall, you were just about to step into the tunnel towards Hotland. In past lives, you'd battled Undyne here, but she was nowhere in sight. But something happened, and suddenly the hand holding yours was empty air. You spun around, fear building back up again in tidal waves. Where was he? Where had he gone? No, no, no, no, no, no. You needed him. You couldn't do it on your own. You felt your will to live return and the pain you'd been feeling all along abruptly became too much for you to handle. Terrified adrenaline pumped through you.

Someone grabbed you and you panicked. You swiped madly towards them to attack but something stilled your hand. So instead you squirmed violently, doing everything you could to get away. You managed to land a heavy kick on them and their grip on you loosened just barely. You screamed and bit their arm, but it was hard and hurt your teeth. Blood was everywhere; you were absently aware that it was yours.

"calm down. calm down. please. **calm down.** "

Something blue overtook you. Your felt your limbs still, but your muscles were tense. You heart beat faster and faster, almost painful within your chest. You couldn't move an inch. Your bleary eyes focused and you saw who it was who held you, a blue flame in one black eye socket. You wanted to react, but you couldn't move. The only control you had left was your breath, so you breathed as hard as you could. You felt your vision begin to go out; you head felt light and dizzy.

"kid, stop it." He looked scared and released his magic hold on you, but you didn't know. You felt so tense. All you did was breath and breath as heavy and fast as you could. Your limbs were tingling. You were certain you were going to die. And finally, _finally_ , unconsciousness overtook you.


	6. Recovery

The day was going well. Frisk had agreed to let Sans join them on their journey for observation. Even though Papyrus coming along would no doubt make it harder to bring his dead mentor's ghost out into the open, Sans had to admit that he would no doubt have a good time with his brother around. Before the trio left, Sans decided to do some prep work for the Gaster investigation he was about to begin in earnest. He had decided to start a new folder containing everything he knew about the Gaster situation, titled "look here first" in the Constant to attract the attention of any Sans in future runs. In it, he kept a document which recorded all known appearances made by Gaster, as well as a readme file for the Gaster-detecting program.

Sans then took a shortcut to the Royal Archives, all the way in the capital, to look up Gaster's old files and copy them directly into the folder. The Royal Archives was a large building which held information dating back to the first days in the Underground. They were accessible to everyone, but the disorganization made it hard to find things. Luckily, Sans' notes told him exactly where he could find Gaster's files (the skeleton had already gone through the trouble of searching for them in the last run).

Looking through the files, he didn't find information very specific about Gaster's research or anything that would indicate why or how he came back. He found some old paychecks and employee evaluations (apparently he was a great worker and very charismatic, but often manipulative and selfish; Sans couldn't completely disagree with that). There were also a few documents concerning resource allocations for Gaster's projects, including requests that were turned down. That, Sans figured, would be very helpful to look into. All of the old skeleton's projects had esoteric names; Sans was familiar with a few of them that he himself had been a part of. He was surprised to see that even when he was employed in the labs, Gaster had quite a few projects going on that Sans hadn't known anything about. He tried to search for documentation on those projects elsewhere in the Archives, but they were nowhere to be found—suspicious. Perhaps he would be able to find something in Alphys' lab; a good deal of project leftovers from the old days could still be found in the basement.

Sans considered shortcutting there right away, but a quick peek at his phone informed him that he was late for meeting with his brother and Frisk. Oh well, it could wait. He put Gaster's files back where he found them, sent his notes to the Constant to be saved, and took a shortcut to Snowdin.

After grouping up with Papyrus and Frisk, they were on the road through Waterfall. It was a beautiful part of the Underground that Sans loved to relax in, but he just wasn't feeling very relaxed that day. His eyes were constantly scanning and searching for any signs of something out of the ordinary. Questions and theories kept popping into his head, so he kept writing them down in his phone.

Sans had been checking his messages (for the hundredth time that day) for any Gaster alert texts, when a blue spear suddenly whirred between him and the kid.

"Get away from that human!" Cried Undyne from out of nowhere. Sans groaned; he didn't think she would so blatantly attack Frisk with all the monsters around. Clearly, he was wrong. The kid took off immediately, dropping their bag unceremoniously as they fled.

"FRISK! COME BACK!" Papyrus shouted after them, and then turned with a huff to the armored fish. "UNDYNE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"Protecting you!" She snarled back, running after the child. Papyrus rook off, too, shouting and demanding that Undyne leave the kid alone.

"you uh, better go home, kiddo." He mumbled to the monster kid, picking up Frisk's discarded bag. He then took a shortcut to catch up with the others. He tried his best to follow the action, but the shortcuts zigged and zagged through the Underground erratically and it was difficult to keep up. He could've just run after them, but Sans wasn't fast on his feet. This wasn't working, he decided. He closed his eyes and tried to think to past runs, tried to remember where this chase would end up. There was a dead end, he remembered suddenly. Undyne would break the boardwalk. They were going to fall.

Sans took a shortcut and found them—but he was too late. Papyrus and Undyne were standing at the edge of the boardwalk, looking over the edge. Papyrus was in a full-blown panic.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY FELL?!" He screamed, his voice cracking. "WHAT'S DOWN THERE?"

"The river. They're probably fine…" She coughed. "Unless they drown."

Papyrus turned to her, eyes teary. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? WE WERE TAKING THEM TO MEET _YOU_! THEY WEREN'T HURTING ANYBODY!"

Undyne bristled. "Humans are _dangerous_ , Pap, you have no clue what they're capable of! And it's my job to kill them!"

Papyrus paled. Sans stepped in. "undyne. we need to find that kid." Something blue sparked from his left eye socket. " **alive.** " He and the fish scowled at each other, but eventually she shrugged.

"You're right about that. Their death would be a waste if we lose their soul." She brushed a clawed hand through her red hair. "I'll get the rest of the guard. We'll arrange a search party." She stepped close to Sans and kneeled, staring him in the eye. "When we find that human, we're going to kill them."

Sans smiled, but there was no joy in his expression. "go ahead." He seriously doubted she would successfully kill Frisk; that kid was damn resilient. She stood straight again and walked past, leaving Papyrus and Sans alone.

"hey, bro. don't worry, they're a tough kid. i know they're alive."

"HOW? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?"

 _because we haven't reset yet_. "because i know. c'mon, bro." Sans tugged at the taller skeleton's sleeve, and finally he turned. _aw shit._ Papyrus was crying; it took considerable effort for Sans to not tear up in response. He couldn't stand to see his brother like this. Sans pulled his brother into a hug. "it's ok, pap. they're safe. we're going to find them."

The rest of the day was spent in search of the lost child. Guards were all along the river that stretched across the entire Underground, prodding sticks into the murky depths. Sans had sent Papyrus to wait at Undyne's house, just in case the kid decided to show up there. He himself took a shortcut to Alphys' lab and got her permission to search the camera feeds.

"what's up with these?" Sans pointed at some feeds that were black. Alphys peered closer.

"Th-those are for the, uh, dumps. In W-Waterfall. Not, um, sure why they're out, they were fine a minute ago." She fiddled her claws together.

"i'll check it out. call me if you see the kid."

Sans stepped out of the lab and took a shortcut. His phone rang, he picked it up.

"Th-the cameras just came back on. But now d-different ones nearby are blank."

Sans followed her directions, going to each area where the cameras stopped working. They seemed to be going out along a path, but after some time would come back on again. It was as if—Sans froze. He checked his text messages. _god fucking dammit._ He didn't even notice the Gaster alerts, what an idiot. He took a shortcut exactly where the most recent alert was, just before the entrance to Hotland.

And there they were. Frisk holding hands with Gaster himself. He was very different form how Sans remembered him; his body seemed taller and almost shapeless, and his face had two vertical deep cracks across his eyes. Sans found a sense of deep unease within himself; something about Gaster was very unsettling. Strangely, Frisk looked delighted to be so close to the ghoul. They wore a contented smile, even though their face was covered in tears.

Wait, what? Sans eyes widened—Frisk was bleeding profusely; their striped shirt was completely stained with blood. Additionally, they were walking with a heavy limp. Sans couldn't let this continue, the kid needed medical attention.

"hey," he said, and was shocked by how small his voice was. Gaster turned and his one good eye widened at the sight of the short skeleton. And then he just… vanished.

That's when everything went downhill. Frisk almost immediately started to panic. Sans ran in to grab them, to calm them down, but then they started really thrashing. In an attempt to stop them from hurting him or themselves, he attempted to still them with his blue magic. Somehow, that made it even worse.

The kid started hyperventilating, their eyes roving wildly. They couldn't move, but the way they breathed was terrifying to him. "kid, stop it." Sans mumbled. He released the magic hold on them, realizing that using it had been a mistake. The kid tensed up and breathed even harder in response. Sans shook them a little, beginning to panic himself. And then, without warning, the kid passed out. Sans stared in shock, convinced they were dead. There were no thoughts of the reset, of Gaster, of any of that in his mind. All he did was stare at the child, almost unable to process what just happened.

And then, after a few seconds, Frisk woke up. They were alive. Sans felt himself slump with relief and exhaustion. They were alive. The two looked at each other quite a while.

"I met Gaster." The human said, their voice was just a hoarse whisper.

"i know." Sans was then aware of the red stickiness covering them both. "you're bleeding."

"He made me want to die…" The child struggled to find their words. "Die for real."

"don't speak kid. you're hurt. i need to call pap." Sans held the kid close to him, but freed one arm to pull out his phone.

"No, I'll forget." Frisk put their hand on Sans' chest and gripped his jacket weakly. "Sans, he filled up my head and there wasn't room for me." Their eyes started closing.

"don't go to sleep, buddy." Sans had no idea if that was good medical advice or not. He was a scientist, not a doctor. "we're going to get you out of here. can you stand?"

The child made an attempt. It was pathetic. "no, it's fine. relax." Sans gently pulled himself to a standing position and held Frisk in his arms. He had to use his magic to make them light enough to carry.

"No, no…" The human mumbled. "Please, no blue."

"i'm sorry kid, it won't be long." Sans held Frisk tight to his chest and took a shortcut to Alphys' lab. He didn't know where else to go. Alphys was at her desk, she turned towards the visitors and almost dropped her ramen.

"O-oh... th-that's blood." She stuttered.

"i need a bed."

The scientist hopped from her chair and led him upstairs. After some fiddling with a large cube, it unfolded and revealed itself as a bed. Sans, as gently as he could, laid the human there and propped them up with pillows. He then remembered Frisk's bag, which he'd been carrying on his back since Undyne's attack. He dropped it on the floor and rummaged through it urgently, until finally he pulled out an old bandage. He pushed up Frisk's ruined striped shirt and peered at the source of the blood. They had an intimidating cut in their side, just below the ribs. Sans guessed it was from one of Undyne's spears. Sans did his best to patch it up with the bandage; thanks to its magic, Frisk already started looking better. A little more color came to their face.

"Sans?" They looked at him, brow furrowed. Their weak voice made him ache. "You need to write it down."

Sans stared, for a moment not comprehending. "oh." He turned over to Alphys, who looked about ready to faint. "can we have a moment?" She nodded quickly and scurried away, looking relieved to be out of there. He sighed and rubbed his skull, and then pulled his phone out. "i'm just gonna record it. tell me everything." He pulled a 'dog from his pocket. "and eat this, too. you need to heal more."

Frisk took the tiniest bite from the 'dog and sat up a little more. They spoke so softly, Sans had to hold the phone close to them to catch every word. It was… upsetting. Seemed like Gaster was just waiting for the chance to get to the child alone. From the sound of things, Gaster had completely suppressed their will to live. All of their survival instincts, even the instinct to avoid pain, were lost. He also did something weird to Frisk's ability to comprehend their own thoughts.

"It was like I lost all of my Determination." The child whispered. "I just had this acceptance… this _desire_ to die. He made me so tired." Their eyes began to water. "I don't want to die, Sans."

"why were you so scared when he left?" Sans asked gently.

Frisk pondered this. "He was filling up my head, pushing all the fear out. When he left, they all came back at once. It was… a lot. I thought I was dying." A sniff. "I really don't want to die."

"you're not gonna die, champ." Sans pushed their hair back. "you're gonna be just fine. eat some more 'dog"

Frisk complied. They chewed a few moments, and then a thought seemed to occur to them. "The way he filled my head… it was just like Chara."

Sans blinked. "who?"

The child turned to him, eyes wide. "Chara. Do you remember? Chara killed you. As me. Chara made me kill you."

Sans leaned back, not really understanding. "maybe it's time for some rest, bucko."

Frisk stared hard at Sans. "No. I know you remember when I murdered you. When I murdered Papyrus." Their hands were shaking. "Why do you think I never hurt anyone anymore? Violence gives them control."

"kid… i don't know what to do with this information. let's save it for another time." Sans rubbed his skull. What Frisk was saying was… well, it was a lot. He just didn't have the energy to deal with something else on top of Gaster. He stopped the recording on the phone.

Frisk laid back on the bed and stared up at the white ceiling. "It was like you, too. Everyone tries to take control."

"i'm not trying to control anybody's mind." Sans shot, suddenly defensive.

"You wouldn't let me move. It's not so different." The human's voice was sad and low. "I'm tired."

"i'm the only one here trying to help you." Why was he so hurt? "i only use that magic for good reasons."

"It makes me ill."

Sans didn't have an answer for that. He looked at the ground, unable to understand why he felt so guilty. He didn't really understand how the conversation took this turn. How was he the bad guy all of the sudden? What Gaster did was fucked up. This new Chara thing… he didn't know what to think about it yet. But it was nothing like what he did. He never went into someone's mind. When Frisk was panicking, he used the magic to hold them still. They were going to hurt themselves. That wasn't wrong. So what if they didn't like his magic, it _helped._ Sans looked up at Frisk.

"kid…"

They didn't respond. Sans balled a hand into a tight fist.

"if you really hate it, i won't use it again."

Frisk turned to him, looking surprised. "Really?"

He closed his eyes and nodded. "yeah. i didn't know you felt that way." An uncomfortable pause. "sorry."

They sat up and after some thought, scooted closer. "Thank you, Sans. I'm, uh… sorry, too." They wilted. "About everything."

Both skeleton and human sat in awkward silence. "this is weird." Sans said, finally. "let's talk later. you get some rest." With that, Sans stood. Frisk grabbed his hand.

"Don't leave." Frisk shivered. "He could…"

Oh right. Gaster. Sans sighed. "ok. i won't leave. but you still need to sleep."

Frisk nodded and, after some hesitation, let go of Sans' hand. He looked down at them scooting under the covers and, despite it all, smiled.

"i'm glad you're still here, bud."

The child smiled back. They looked tired, but happy. "I'm glad you're here, too."

* * *

 **Sometimes your writing goes in unexpected directions. Did I plan to bring up Chara? Not at all. And yet, here we are. I'm considering getting rid of the Chara discussion and changing how the chapter ends, but we'll see. I'll definitely let y'all know if I make any major changes like that.**

 **I am so delighted by all the reviews, favorites, and follows. You guys warm my heart! :)**


	7. Insomnia

**Another warning of suicide mention in this chapter.**

* * *

It didn't seem fair that after such a terrible day, you would still be plagued with nightmares in the night. Despite your exhaustion, you couldn't stay asleep for long. The only comfort was that every time you woke, the first thing you saw was Sans, sitting beside the bed. Sometimes he was looking at his phone, sometimes he was talking softly with other visitors (Alphys, Papyrus, even Undyne all made appearances). A day ago, Sans' presence was uncomfortable to you. Now, he was your security blanket.

You had already forgotten your encounter with Gaster. You remembered telling Sans about it very well, though. And you remembered the panic attack; that newly intense fear of dying still lingered in your mind. The nightmares that plagued you took on a different flavor from usual—they were memories of old deaths. Even deaths you had totally forgotten about. You remembered being killed by Asgore, Undyne, Mettaton, Flowey and so many other monsters. You remembered deaths from on the surface—even darker times. They made you shiver and whimper in your sleep.

At one point, late in the night, you woke with a small gasp. It was dark, except for the glow of Sans' phone illuminating his face. He was still with you. He was still awake. You shifted some, and he peered up at you. He looked exhausted.

"bad dream, bud?"

You shrugged. And then nodded. "What time is it?"

He glanced back down at the screen. "late. but don't worry about it. rest as long as you need."

You closed your eyes and exhaled slowly. A thought occurred to you. "Have you slept at all?"

"nah. i'm fine."

"You didn't sleep at all yesterday either, did you?"

The skeleton sighed and put the phone down. "don't worry about it, kiddo. i'm tough. 'sides, as long as i'm awake, gaster will stay away."

That seemed to be the case. It made you feel guilty to be the cause of Sans' sleep deprivation, but at the same time, you were glad to have him. You hated what Gaster did to you. You hated that you couldn't even remember what he looked like, and yet he was responsible for the fear in your soul and painful throbbing in your ankle.

At least with Chara, you knew how to protect yourself. Staying pacifistic, no matter what, would allow you to keep control. But apparently all Gaster needed was to show up and you were helpless against him. How could you even begin to combat that?

You looked down at your hands. You wiggled your fingers, watching the tendons stretch. Just then, you felt very aware of your own life. How close it came to ending, all over again. You didn't want to die. You'd experienced death hundreds of times, but at that moment it was an unbearable concept. You didn't want to die.

"frisk." You looked up. The skeleton was staring intently at you. "it's going to be ok."

You didn't say a thing.

"fine, you don't have to believe me. i can see you don't want to." Sans leaned back in the chair, stretching his arms above his head. "but you do need to sleep. you're a growing child, you gotta rest."

You looked away. "Can't." _Not ready for another nightmare._

He studied you a moment, then shrugged. "ok. well, in that case let's talk. tell me about chara."

Suddenly, sleep sounded like a great idea. "I really don't want to."

"kid, you brought them up in the first place. you said they _murdered_ me."

"I was just upset."

"so were you lying, then?"

"No!" You sounded a little too loud and a little too defensive. "It's just…" You let out a frustrated sigh.

"is it so unfair for me to want to know?"

"It's hard for me to talk about. Please, understand." You looked at him pleadingly. "I'll never forget the sensation of, of…" _Of killing you._

"see, i'll never forget it either. i look at you and i see that... _smile_. but if it wasn't you, i want to know." He closed his eyes. "i want to forgive you, bud. you don't have to explain anything. just tell me it wasn't you."

You stared down at your hands. You thought back to that life—one of the first ones you'd experienced. You were frightened. It kept restarting, over and over, and you were desperate to escape for good. So you had given up on mercy.

"I am unforgivable." You looked at Sans. "I didn't want to kill you. But I let it happen. I killed, and that let them in. They almost got in many times since; the connection is established, it doesn't take much to lose control. The number of times we've reached the surface and they ruined it all..." You squeezed your eyes shut. "Resetting was preferable to letting them kill again. So I… ended things."

Sans's voice took a weird tone. "god, you…?" He drifted off. The heavy subject left you both silent for several minutes. Eventually, though, Sans spoke up. "what was different about the last run? why didn't they get in again?"

You opened your eyes and looked at him. That was a really good question. "I don't know."

He learned foreword with a hard look. "gaster?"

You stared at him. Maybe. You couldn't remember, but maybe. If both tried to take control, what would happen? Gaster suppressed your Determination, but Chara made it stronger. Gaster made you passive, Chara made you active. They were almost opposite forces. The thought of both of them wrestling with your mind was hard to imagine; it made you feel a little sick.

Sans was thinking hard about something. "i think… maybe this is what's going to save us." He dug through your backpack until finally pulling out your phone. He fiddled with it a moment and frowned. "wow, this thing is ancient." He shook his head, then turned back to you. "in the morning, alphys will update your phone. i'll ask her to include a text editor app. i want you to write down everything you know about chara—who they are, where they come from, how they take control. everything that you're comfortable with me knowing, but really, the more i know the more i can help, kiddo. i can connect it to the constant for you so it'll stay safe. chara can be the key to figuring out gaster." Sans dared to smile, you could hear some excitement in his voice. "maybe i can help you get rid of them both."

"Sans, I don't know…" Your hands fiddled with the blanket nervously.

"buddy, i don't want to pressure you but, come on, we need this. we have very few leads, we barely have a clue what's going on. i know you're scared. i know it's hard for you, but without this we're at a dead end. the old plan to just wait for gaster to show up was just terrible, but we had no better options. _this_ is a better option."

You felt uncomfortable. Sans seemed manic to you—alarming to see on such a generally laid-back skeleton. "Can I just… think about it?" You asked, your voice smalland shaky.

He smiled kindly, but you knew he was disappointed by your response. "of course, kiddo."

The way Sans was pushing you on this made you feel terribly uncomfortable. Maybe it was easy for him to just meet the awful truth about Chara head on, but for you… it was difficult to even think about. He couldn't understand what it was like for you. It didn't feel fair for him to expect this from you. You did want Sans to know about it all, just… just not before you were ready. And yet, if he really could help you… maybe it was worth the shame, the fear, the grief revisited. If it helped you make it out alive, maybe it was worth it.

You looked at Sans, but he was focused on his phone again. Tapping away. Probably writing about this awful conversation to be saved in that damn computer forever. You scooted down and pulled the blankets over yourself. It smelled like warm fabric. You closed your eyes and allowed yourself to feel tired. Maybe you were ready to try sleeping again, to risk yet another nightmare.

"going to sleep, kiddo?"

You nodded slightly.

"ok, bud. goodnight."

* * *

 **Special thanks this chapter to Trueheart Zen for their input! After some thinking, I decided to embrace the Chara aspect of the story a little more fully. This chapter is here to flesh out their introduction to Sans a little better. I know it's a little weak and practically nothing happens, but to make up for things, I plan on having the next couple of chapters be much more entertaining and contributive towards the plot.  
I'm pretty pumped about some ideas for this story, but it's going to take a little build-up to get to that point in a believable way. I am very dedicated to the investigative parts of this story, lol.**

 **It took me a little longer to get this chapter done because apparently I'm expected to spend extra time with loved ones this time of year or something, some sort of... holiday tradition or something? Weird. But I had a wonderful time and I hope you are all happy and healthy! Next chapter ought to be out very soon!**


	8. Strength in Numbers

**Another suicide mention in this chapter. Somebody brought up that they weren't sure what the warnings were for-I know the references made to suicide in these chapters are fairly subtle and may not be as easy to catch as I thought they were (of course they're easy for _me_ to catch-I wrote them!)**

 **I don't want to make anybody uncomfortable. I, and many people I know, have been through times where certain things covered in this story would maybe not be so good to read. Maybe the warnings aren't really necessary, but I'm doing them to be safe and respectful. Y'all are wonderful and deserve the best.**

 **Okay, enough rambling. Enjoy the story!**

* * *

Sans was going on almost 48 hours without sleep. Monsters didn't need to sleep as often as humans, but this was very out of habit for Sans. He hadn't gone on such long hours since he was a lowly researcher with heavy deadlines. The only thing that kept him awake was his tiny phone. He hated the damn thing, but it was no longer an optional part of his life when there was an evil, mind-controlling ghost wandering around hurting children.

He was unable to leave Frisk's side while they slept, so he'd been texting Alphys all night. She didn't mind—apparently these were the hours she preferred to keep. Not to mention, she was anxious to do anything she could to help the human. Sans was happy to put her to work.

"u think u can get me some files from the basement?" He had texted her, earlier in the night.

"Sure, what for?"

"really cant say why right now but i need anything u can find on the following projects." Sans pasted all of the project names that had been in Gaster's files.

"Wow haven't heard of most of these. I'll see what I can find"

The rest of the night, Sans had been getting brief updates on what she was finding. The filing system in the basement was, quite frankly, a mess. Monsters just weren't very organized, apparently. What Alphys could find was incomplete and missing pages, but she did her best. She texted brief summaries of what she found, but would let him see everything in the morning. So far, everything she found seemed to be totally irrelevant studies—effects of petting on artistic abilities, health studies on the benefits of an all-vegetoid diet, that kind of thing. Sans was a little surprised to see that Gaster had been spending his time on that sort of stuff; he would've expected his old mentor to turn his (nonexistent) nose up at them.

As Alphys rummaged in the basement, Papyrus and Undyne had made several visits to Sans and Frisk in the night. Papyrus had begged to see the child, but Sans had to be a little firm to get him to leave Frisk in peace until morning. The pouting was hard to resist. Undyne, meanwhile, had been insisting he turn Frisk to her custody. Sans straight up refused to let her in the room. She tried to muscle her way in, forcing Sans to use a little blue magic (he'd only promised he wouldn't use it on _Frisk_ —anybody else was fair game). Finally, she got the point and left them alone, angrily muttering that a fair fight would be more fun anyway.

Everyone had been wanting to know what happened. Sans didn't really know what to tell them. He settled with "they got hurt", to which Undyne loudly responded, "NO FUCKING KIDDING! THANKS BUCKO!" Sans decided wait until morning to talk to Frisk about how much they wanted to disclose. It felt wrong to say anything without their assent.

Eventually, morning did come. Sans' phone buzzed. Every time he got a text, his first thought was of the Gaster alert, but this time it was only a message from Papyrus.

"DO YOU THINK THE HUMAN WILL BE HUNGRY?"

Sans smiled down at the screen and tapped out a response. "absolutely bro. counting on u 4 breakfast."

Not too long later, Papyrus came in with a bowl in each hand. "IT'S RAMEN! ALPHYS SHOWED ME HOW TO MAKE IT—IT'S LIKE SPAGHETTI AND SOUP AT THE SAME TIME!" Frisk meanwhile stirred in the bed.

"think you woke them up, bro."

"OH!" Papyrus coughed and switched to a loud whisper. "OOPS, SORRY."

Frisk let out a loud yawn and turned over to look at the brothers. "It's ok. G'morning." They sat up some and smiled at the food. "Is that for me?"

"YES!" Papyrus sat at the foot of the bed and extended one long hand to place to bowl in the child's hands. He gave the other one to Sans. "DID YOU BOTH SLEEP WELL!"

Frisk and Sans exchanged glances. Frisk absolutely did not sleep well, and Sans didn't even sleep. But they both gave Papyrus a smiling nod. "Hope you weren't too worried about me." Said the child. They dipped their spoon into the bowl, but were clearly having some trouble getting the slippery noodles to stay on the spoon. Eventually they just settled on sipping the broth.

"I'M JUST GLAD YOU'RE SAFE NOW! SANS IS A VERY GOOD BODY GUARD!"

"there was no _body_ else for the job." Sans pointed out with a grin and a shrug.

"Guarding isn't so hard. Just have to use your _noodle_." Frisk said, holding up their ramen.

Papyrus glared. "YOU HANG AROUND MY BROTHER TOO MUCH."

Frisk and Sans broke into a fit of giggling.

"What's so funny?" Undyne popped her head in. Sans sobered immediately and turned to give her a glare—something blue sparked from one eye. She gave a crooked grin. "Oh relax, grumpy. I'm not here to pick a fight. Alphys asked me to not murder anybody under her roof." She stuffed her hands into her pockets and swaggered in.

"UNDYNE, GLAD YOU'RE HERE!" Papyrus crossed his arms with a pout. "THEY WON'T STOP MAKING PUNS!"

"That's rough buddy. They need to be… PUN-ished!" Undyne broke into loud laugher at her own joke. Frisk cheerfully joined in, and Sans had to laugh too.

"UNDYNE NO!" Papyrus cried.

She joined Papyrus at the edge of the bed and smirked over at the bowl of food in the child's hands. "Oh, unDYNE-ing in today, I see?" Papyrus groaned and let himself fall dramatically to the floor. She leered at down him. "What's the matter! Are my jokes FIN-noying you?" She wiggled her webbed fingers at him for emphasis.

Frisk, meanwhile, was laughing so hard they spilled their food. "Frisk! Quit MESSing around!" Undyne shouted. The kid just laughed even harder—they were crying at this point.

Sans stared at the woman. "i've been dethroned…" He muttered, awestruck.

She heard him and made an evil grin. "You have a BONE to pick with me, funny guy?"

Sans gave a reverent bow. "nope. i'm a skeleton, i don't have the _guts_ to fight you."

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT DONE WITH ALL OF YOU!" Came a shout from the floor.

It was around this point when Alphys peered inside, a worried look on her face. "Wh-what's going on? What's all the y-yelling?"

Undyne flashed her a massive smile. "Oh, nothing! Just RIBbing these guys!" Another groan from Papyrus, who still lying face down on the tiled floor.

"wow pap, you're _floor_ ed."

"Er, alright. I, uh, have all the files here, Sans." She walked in, carrying a plastic crate filled with manila folders. "It took some time to find them, b-but I'm happy to help." Sans stood up to take them. "Oh!" She fished a phone from her pocket. "I also, uh, upgraded Frisk's phone."

"thanks, alphys. 'preciate it." He took the phone and thumbed through each of the files, silently counting them.

Undyne seemed to finally relent on the joking. She hopped up to peer over his shoulder. "What're those for?"

"nothing. just some reading material for frisk and i." Sans looked around the room. "do you guys think i could have a moment with the kid? we have some things to discuss."

Papyrus sat up. "WHAT ABOUT?" He looked over at the child, whose smile was now fading.

"bro, trust me." The shorter skeleton stepped over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "when it's time to tell you, we'll tell you."

Reluctantly, the taller skeleton nodded. The three monsters filed out of the room, leaving Sans and Frisk alone once again. He dropped the crate on the bed, making the mattress wiggle. Frisk sat up more and crossed their legs.

"What is that?"

"maybe nothing." Sans gave the kid a hard look. "did you finish thinking about it?"

Frisk gripped their bowl a little harder. "I guess I have to do it, huh?"

Sans felt a twinge of guilt. Was he being a jerk for pressing this? "well, no you don't have to do anything. it just really, really helps."

They shrugged and reached an arm out for their phone. Sans reluctantly put it in their hand. "thanks, kid." He wanted to promise that no matter what they wrote about Chara, he wouldn't let it change how he saw them. But he knew that wasn't true. He was already very unsure of what he felt about them—conflicting feelings of fear, protectiveness, resentment, and sympathy clashed in his mind.

"i'll show you how to connect to the constant to save it later. now on to other business." He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "what do you want to tell the other monsters? how much do they need to know? i'm leaving this one up to you, buddy."

They were a little surprised by the question. "What do they know now?"

"nothing."

Frisk furrowed their brow. "I don't know… what do you think?"

"well, first of all, what are you comfortable with them knowing? and remember that whatever we tell them, they're gonna want to get involved. that could be helpful for us but dangerous for them."

"How could they help?"

Sans gestured to the crate of files. "alphys was kind enough to find all the project information that gaster was up to when he was royal scientist. this took her hours, but she did it without even knowing why i wanted it. she has done even more for us, too—it's her cameras and magic sensors that helped me find you. she is brilliant, dedicated, and trustworthy. if we tell anyone, it should be her."

"Alright, well, what about the others?"

Sans thought. "undyne is a powerful friend to have. pap… well he's cool. i'm sure they'd be really helpful in protecting you, keeping eyes out for gaster, and helping sort through all these files." Sans tapped the crate. "i want to save them all to the constant, but that's a lot of work for just you and me."

"Wouldn't it be dangerous involving others? Couldn't Gaster… hurt them?"

Sans frowned. "maybe. hard to say, kiddo. it's a valid concern."

The child squirmed. "I guess if Gaster hurts anybody, we could always just…" Their voice lowered with a fearful look. "…start over."

"kid, absolutely no dying on purpose. i forbid it." Sans sighed. It upset him that they could just _say_ something like that. He thought of the conversation from the night before and it made him shiver. The two sat in a few moments of awkward silence.

"Let's tell them about Gaster and what he did yesterday. But not the restarting. Or, um, Chara."

"that's fair." He watched Frisk carefully. "they're going to know we're leaving parts out."

"Hopefully they'll just… accept that."

He nodded. "ok." He stood up to go get the other three monsters, but then paused. Oh yeah, he couldn't leave them alone. "uh."

"It's fine—I'll get up, too. I'm sick of this bed." Sans had to hold their hand to help them climb out. Abruptly, they both realized that Frisk was still in their ruined clothes. The bed had acquired some bloodstains of its own beneath the covers. Sans looked around and noticed Alphys' bureau. He hoped she wouldn't mind when he strode over to dig through her clothes. He found an old t shirt featuring a scantily-clad cat girl and some chemistry-themed pajama bottoms. Sans politely turned around while Frisk changed.

When the kid was ready, they took Sans' hand again and the two of them walked downstairs to talk to the other monsters. He let Frisk lead the conversation.

Undyne, Alphys, and Papyrus had many questions. "Why do we need to save everything in the Constant?" Undyne had asked.

"uh, because i want everything in one place."

"C-can we see it?" Alphys was already anxious to get caught up on the meat of the investigation.

"no. most of the stuff on it is… private." Sans absolutely did not want them accidentally finding all his notes referring to the looping. He made a mental note to set up some passwords to control what they could access.

The most difficult part of the conversation was explaining Frisk's encounter with Gaster. To make things easier, they decided to replay the recording from the night before, when Frisk first told Sans. They both totally forgot Chara was mentioned at the end of the recording—Sans rushed to turn it off before the other monsters caught the name.

"the rest isn't important." He said quickly.

Luckily, nobody pushed it. Papyrus just stared at Frisk, ready to cry. "FRISK… I CAN'T BELIEVE…"

The human tried to give their best comforting smile. "It's okay, Papyrus. It was really scary, but I'm safe. Sans is protecting me."

"What's that now?" Undyne furrowed her brow.

"gaster doesn't like confrontation, it seems. he only shows when the kid's alone."

"S-so Gaster has shown up before?" Alphys asked. Sans and Frisk looked at each other.

"yeah… i guess. thing is, something weird happens to memories. you forget he was ever there, after a while. that's why we recorded that as soon as frisk was feeling well enough, or the memory of him would be gone forever."

After more questions and answers, as filled with holes as they were, the three monsters were eventually up to date. Or as up to date as Sans and Frisk wanted them to be, at least.

"So, you haven't told us. What can we do to help?" Undyne gave a big grin. "Because there's no way we're sitting out on this."

"you saw those files alphys got us? all of those are projects gaster headed as royal scientist. we're looking for anything to tell us how he is alive now. i also want them all transcribed and saved to the constant. can you guys do that?"

"Ugh, that's grunt work. But fine!" Undyne stood up and took a heroic pose. "Human! I hereby rescind my promise to kill you! Instead, I will kill Gaster!"

Papyrus joined her in his own dramatic pose. "AND I, PAPYRUS THE GREAT, SWEAR TO PROTECT YOU! YOU ARE NOT IN THIS ALONE!"

Alphys, not wanting to be left out, jumped up and threw a nervous fist in the air. "I'll help, too!"

Sans looked over at Frisk, who was wearing the biggest smile he ever remembered seeing on them. "Thanks, you guys." They stood and jumped in to pull all three monsters into a group hug. Papyrus glanced at Sans and motioned for him to join, but the shorter skeleton didn't move. He could see everything fine from there, thanks. When the happy moment had passed, everybody went upstairs to start sorting through the files.

Once Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys settled into things, Sans pulled Frisk aside. "kid, we have other work." The human gave a nod. He took their hand and led them outside the lab and through another shortcut. Suddenly, they were both back in his lab in Snowdin.

"sorry to pull you away from the fun, chum. i'm gonna get the constant set up for everything. if you're ready, i'd like you to start writing about chara."

The kid bit their lip nervously, but nodded. Sans sat down in front of the computer; Frisk took another seat on the opposite side of the room. They grabbed a cinnamon bun from their bag, took a bite, and pulled out their phone.

"hey kid, you did a great job today." Sans looked back.

"I didn't really do anything." Frisk said softly.

"no, you did. you're very brave." He turned around to begin his work. "you have serious determination."


	9. Memoirs

**I didn't expect to need to warn of a suicide mention for this chapter, too, but here it is! Maybe I should just put it in the story description.**

* * *

Despite Sans' kind words, you were not feeling brave at all just then. You stared down hard at the blank screen of your phone. You could guess why Sans wanted you to write it all down instead of just talk about it—it felt less confrontational. But you still couldn't think of how to even begin. You hadn't actually sat down and written something since you were in school, which was… you didn't even want to try and guess how long ago _that_ was.

"Sans?"

The skeleton turned from the computer to smile at you. "yeah, bud?" From the looks of the screen behind him, a black background with white letters in some esoteric programming language, his challenge appeared much more formidable than yours.

"I… don't know how to start."

Sans rubbed his chin. "start at the beginning."

You bit your lip. Well, that made sense. A bit embarrassed you didn't just think of that yourself, you gave him a quick nod. His kind gaze lingered on you a moment longer before he turned back to his own work.

You looked down at your phone and hesitantly began to type, "Chara came from the surface like me…" You worked slowly at first, deleting and rewording sentences over and over, overanalyzing everything you wrote. Gradually, though, you eased into the flow of writing. You wrote about The Dreemurr family adopting the first human. How easily Toriel and Asgore took their new member of the family in, even though the child was clearly... ethically challenged. You quickly summarized the tragic day when the Underground lost the first fallen human and the kind prince in a single day.

You wrote in depth about what happened to Asriel—his terrible curse to live a miserable, unending life angry and alone. He was cruel to all he met, especially you, but you couldn't bring yourself to hate him. His experiences hit you too close to home. Everything you had done out of fear, desperation, loneliness, and boredom—he'd done dozens of times. Even things you hadn't been able to bring yourself to try, he'd done. He had been in this loop long before you were even born; it left him bitter and depressed. He had lost his personality and become… Flowey. When you looked at him, you wondered if you were looking at your own future.

You took a break from writing at this point and scrolled back to reread your work. You had gotten completely off topic. You considered deleting it all, but figured maybe Sans would want to know. You took a moment to stretch and rub your sore ankle, then settled back into the chair and began to write again.

"Chara hates everybody. I can feel them in me all the time. They are always making suggestions. They tell me to do or say mean things. Chara wants me to feel like I am in danger. They try to make me afraid because if I am afraid I won't be careful and I will hurt somebody. They tell me that nobody loves me. They tell me that others deserve to die. They do everything they can to make me give in.

Chara was not always in my head. A long time ago I was just me. I was very scared. It was before I ever made it to the end. Every time I died I started over and I died a lot. I did not want to hurt anybody but they were hurting me. I decided to try being violent. I thought it would be ok because maybe it would just restart and nobody would stay dead. The first one I killed was a Froggit in the Ruins. I am not sure when Chara came into my head exactly but it slowly got easier to hurt monsters. I was getting stronger and more cruel. I killed every monster in the ruins. I still did not realize I was not in control." You paused, staring at your own writing. It was a little painful to see your own confession in front of you. You wanted to delete it and forget it all, but you knew that wasn't an option.

"I did not want to hurt Toriel. That is when I knew something was wrong. Chara took my body away from me. They were very big and they pushed me out. When Chara is in control I feel like I cannot breath. I feel very trapped. I feel like I want to panic. Chara would not let me panic. Right now if I want to cry and hide I can make my body do that and it lets me feel better. Chara did not let my body do that. It made me feel claustrophobic." (You struggled with the word and had to ask Sans how to spell it; he gave you an odd look.) "I killed a lot of monsters when Chara had control. I am very sorry. I even killed Flowey. Chara wanted to go to the surface to kill humans but we could not leave. Chara told me that we would have to start over and try again. Chara made me die.

Ever since then Chara has been in my head. It is very easy for them to take control. We have all been on the surface many times but Chara always gets close to taking control. Chara tries harder on the surface because they are more excited to hurt others. The only way to take control away from Chara is to start over. I do not like to start over. I have to be very careful."

You stopped writing there. You felt drained and you couldn't think of anything to add. Maybe later you would have more. You looked up nervously at the skeleton—it seemed like he had already finished whatever he was doing on the Constant and was now on his own phone. You shifted in the chair and he looked up and gave you a warm smile.

"how's it going, kiddo?"

"Um… how do you want me to save it?"

He popped out of his own chair and strolled over to yours. He reached for the phone but you stopped him. "Can you, um, not read it right now?"

He took a moment, but nodded. "sure kiddo, no worries. i'm just gonna connect you to the server and give you your password to your own folder. you can save stuff on it but just know i can see everything you put." You gave him the phone and let him fiddle with it a few moments. Once he was done, he handed it back. "your password is fartmaster, by the way." He gave a wink.

You giggled despite your low mood. The skeleton leaned over and showed you how to connect to and save to the Constant, and then showed you your file on the computer itself. "i was just texting alphys, explaining the same stuff to her. sent them all their own private passwords, too. they can't see what you wrote." He picked up an old cover and threw it over the computer. You helped him straighten out the sides. "i think we've earned a break, kiddo. girllby's?" You smiled and give a quick nod. Sans took you by the hand and soon you were in a new place. It smelled like fire and grease. The two of you took a seat where you did in every life, at the bar.

"how ya feeling?" He nudged you some.

"Um. I don't know." You leaned against the bar and crossed your arms. "Weird."

"you still in pain?"

"No—well, yeah I'm a little stiff and sore, but that's not what I meant. I guess I'm nervous. About what I wrote." Your voice dropped. "What you'll think of me."

"kid…" Sans looked conflicted. "i'm nervous, too. but this is good. knowing more can only help us."

Two plates of French fries were placed before you and Sans. Grillby exchanged a friendly nod with the skeleton, and went off to take care of other customers. You picked up a piece of fry and frowned at it. You weren't feeling hungry just then. "Can I ask you a question?"

"you just did, pal." Sans chuckled, popping a fry into his mouth.

"Heh." You dropped the fry back into the pile in mild defeat.

He looked at you with some concern. "no, it's fine, ask."

"Um… why are you helping me with all of this? I get some of it, but…" You looked down at your hands. "I haven't done anything for you. I've only given you grief. Doesn't it seem… unfair to you?"

The skeleton sat there silently for several seconds. "do you think i'm the kind of guy who would just abandon a kid?" He looked at you, his smile gone. His voice gradually rose in volume with every word. "i'm the one who gets off easy here, kid. no one's trying to kill _me_. i'm here to help, not only because this whole business affects me, not only because of the loops, not only because chara and maybe gaster are a danger to hundreds of people and monsters… but because you, even you—no, _especially_ you—deserve safety. you're just a kid! you have barely lived."

You shook a little under Sans' intense gaze. You voice came out small. "I have lived. For years, last time."

"that wasn't _you_. that was some _other_ kid who made it out and grew up. different things happened the them, they turned into someone else. they got to live a full life, but you haven't had your chance yet. i won't sit aside and let some fucking _ghost_ or whatever take that away from you."

Hearing him say that curse word out loud shocked you. You glued your eyes to the floor, feeling so ashamed. You wondered if the entire bar was staring, but you couldn't bear to check.

"kid, what's wrong?" His voice softened.

"Sorry… I'm sorry…" You murmured, wilting even more. Your question had upset him. You regretted asking. You had been yelled at plenty of times before—you were used to Undyne, after all. But after the last couple of days, the renewed guilt, the nightmares, the panic attack, the stress, the uncertainty… you found yourself struggling to stand up to his raised voice.

Sans seemed confused. "kid, i'm not… mad at you. i'm not angry. i mean, i am, but not at you. _for_ you, really." At the corner of your eye you saw him reach a hand out, but hesitate to touch you. "weren't you listening? i'm on your side, buddy."

You didn't say a word. What could you say, really? Sans, too, seemed at a loss of words. Eventually, though, he did speak. His words were soft and cautious. "kid, i'm helping you because you're good. bad things happened to you, but you never let that stop you from being good." He shifted. "i'm sorry i got angry, you didn't need that. getting mad doesn't solve any problems. hey." He gingerly placed a hand on your arm. You finally managed to look him in the eye. "i'm sorry, frisk."

You nodded. You cleared your throat some, and spoke. "It's okay. Don't be sorry. I'm… it's all just really hard. I don't know what's…" You sighed. "It's just hard."

"i know, buddy." Sans removed his hand and looked sullenly at his own food. "i know."

The two of you sat there in another awkward silence. That seemed to happen a lot now. You heard your phone ring (you found yourself somewhat relieved by the distraction) and you answered. "Hello?"

"FRISK! ARE YOU STILL BUSY? ALPHYS FOUND SOMETHING—KINDA."

You straightened up. "What?"

"SHE SAYS IT'S—WELL, IT'S HARD TO EXPLAIN. CAN YOU AND SANS JUST COME BACK?"

"Um, okay. Bye." You put the phone down and looked over at Sans. "I think they want us."

Sans grinned. "great. let's see what they got."

* * *

 **This chapter took some time to finish because recently I got my SO into Undertale and I just had to watch him get the neutral and pacifist endings. His reactions were absolutely priceless. What a good game. You guys obviously already know that, but _man_. It's so damn good. **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, as always, forgive any errors-I will hopefully find anything I've missed tomorrow after a good night's sleep. I had a fun time writing in what I imagine Frisk's style** **would be** **.** **Next chapter should be out in a day or so, but in case it isn't I'll tell you now, don't expect much on Thursday or Friday. Happy new years!**


	10. Tax Evasion

All of these shortcuts were starting to wear on him, on top of his heavy sleep deprivation. Sans was worried about dozing off when working on the Constant earlier—he'd suggested Grillby's in hopes that food would wake him up. Apparently, it got the job done, because he managed to freak out the poor kid quite a lot. Evidently, the stress of the last couple of days pushed both of them in very conflicting directions; Frisk seemed extra sensitive, and he felt extra manic. He would need to be careful to keep himself in check.

Beyond that, the hints of whatever new discovery Alphys had made had given the skeleton a new sense of energy—he was excited. Upon entering the lab, the two of them found Alphys, Papyrus, and Undyne all sitting on the floor near the computer, files and papers particularly arranged into a storm of chaos around them.

"Watch your step, we have a delicate system here." Undyne warned upon seeing them.

"I DESIGNED IT!" Papyrus chirped.

"looks great." Sans carefully weaved through the piles to the central clearing. Frisk followed close behind, still holding tightly to his hand for balance. "what do you have for us?"

"Um, it-it could be nothing." Alphys' lap was covered in papers.

Sans gently nudged a pile of papers out of the way for Frisk to sit down it, and then cleared another spot for himself. "let's hear it, al." He smiled at the scientist, trying his best to look encouraging. She was often prone to self-doubt, which could really get in the way of her brillance. Sans reflected that when he was a young budding researcher, he had the opposite problem—too much ego, not enough cleverness. And look where he ended up. But Alphys, he could see her outperforming even Gaster in a few years' time.

"W-we decided to start by recording every project name along w-with its date, budget, um, summary, that sort of thing. I just thought it was really weird that Gaster had so many projects. I, um, never knew him personally or anything. But he was known for being a little bit, er, elitist? All of these projects w-were kind of… small picture." She picked up one file. "This one analyzes the nutritional differences between varieties of tem flakes based on, uh, price. That's just… i-it doesn't compare to projects like the Core." She dug through another nearby pile and pulled out a folder. Only a single sheet of paper was inside. "Then Papyrus found this." She stretched to hand the folder to Sans. "That project was rejected. By the King. It was going to be called, uh, Save Point."

Sans opened the folder and peered at the form. Its description was vague, but incredible. He read part of it aloud. "the purpose of save point is to explore the possibility of creating static points in time and space that can be returned to by an individual or individuals through use of the substance known as determination. this is the next step in understanding and harnessing time." This was… Sans could barely believe what he was reading. It was eerily… relevant.

"A-as you can see at the, uh, bottom, it was rejected early on. Too high of a budget and a, uh, low chance of payoff. Also, undoing the past has some, well, ethical concerns. If you look at the date, this idea was pitched at the height of Gaster's career." Sans did notice that—it must've been when the Core development project was wrapping up. Sans must've just joined Gaster's team, the Constant project was barely getting started. He remembered it had also almost been rejected for similar budget reasons, but Gaster made a big fuss and it pulled through. Alphys continued speaking. "All of those smaller projects, they started getting pitched right after Save Point's rejection. We, um, haven't looked through all of them yet, but from what we've seen, they're not professionally done. Run by Gaster in name only. Incomplete data, bad design, often useless subjects. They didn't do much for his credit as a scientist. They were accepted because they were cheap, though. I think the whimsical subjects, uh, appealed to people." She opened the folder for the tem flakes study. "If you look at the expense reports and compare them to, uh, the studies, you will notice… discrepancies. A lot of materials they claimed to have bought never get used, or if they do, in much lower quantities than what is purchased."

"so, you think he was…"

"Money laundering? Um. Yes." Alphys closed the folder. "I mean I could be wrong. But I think he was. Maybe he was using the money for himself or, uh, or something else we don't know about. Or maybe it was…"

Sans finished her sentence. "…maybe it was save point. why do you think it's that specifically?"

She smiled. "I, uh, don't have a good reason. It's just… rejected project files aren't supposed to be stored in the True Lab. But that one was. Maybe that means something." Possibly, but Sans thought it could just as well be the result of the inherently terrible organization skills most monsters appeared to possess. Misplaced files were so common you might as well inverse the filing system instead of putting everything back. Nevertheless, Sans felt like Alphys might have struck gold here.

Sans looked around the room. "how far along are you at getting through these files? we need to confirm the laundering at least."

"About half way."

"how can i help?"

"SANS." Papyrus had been busily organizing papers into hill-shaped piles, but he finally decided to step into the conversation. "NO OFFENSE, BUT YOU DON'T KNOW THE SYSTEM. IT WILL TAKE FOREVER TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU AND IT'LL BE A WHOLE THING! JUST LET US HANDLE IT!"

Undyne grinned. "Yeah, we got this, you guys can relax! Maybe get some sleep or something!"

Sans sighed. He was grateful for their help, and if Alphys was right, this was a huge deal. But one thing that the skeleton did not like was sitting around and relying on others; he had trouble with delegation. Looked like they wouldn't give him a choice on that, though. "alright. thank you everyone. alphys—you have a good eye for detail. great job."

The lizard blushed—her expression was a mixture of embarrassment and pride. "Oh, um, haha, thank you!" Undyne gave her a huge delighted grin.

"So, uh, what should we do?" Frisk asked the group. The monsters all looked at each other.

An idea occurred to Sans. "i used to work for gaster, way back around that time." Alphys and Undyne both looked a little shocked by this. "kiddo, you and i can go look for some of his other employees. see what they know." The skeleton smiled over at the human.

"Oh!" Alphys stood up (ignoring the tsunami of papers sent flying from her lap) and grabbed a binder off her desk. She reached out to give it to Sans. "This is, uh, all the employee information from those years. Haven't looked through it yet, but it might help." She smiled. "I didn't know you worked here, Sans."

He shrugged. "it was a good gig but i had to quit." He tucked the binder under his arm and stood. "you know how that goes. probably for the best." Frisk popped up and followed as the short skeleton carefully made his way out of the paper hell. After a quick goodbye, they both stepped out of the lab.

"so what do you think, bud?" Sans looked at Frisk.

"That Save Point thing…" The human furrowed their brow in thought. "Always going back to the same time and place. Reminds me of the loops."

Sans grinned. He was excited again. "exactly, kiddo. if her hunch is right, that means… well, i don't know what it means yet, but it has to be good."

The human gave a small smile. "You think so?"

"yeah, why not. maybe… maybe everything is more connected than we thought."

"So, uh, your coworkers?"

"oh right." Sans pulled the binder out. He leaned against the wall of the lab and opened it up. Just for kicks, he looked himself up in there. "hey, check this out." He lowered the binder some, allowing the child to see. "that was me." Shown was a small picture of a younger Sans, dressed in a button down and slacks (oh, how Sans had loathed those pants). Also listed was his position (magical physicist), his employer (W.D. Gaster), the project he worked under (Constant), and old, outdated contact information.

"What did you do?"

"i helped gaster flesh out the theory of the constant, design parts of the computer, that sort of thing."

"So… you were pretty important?" Frisk looked up with wide eyes. He wanted to laugh at how impressed they were.

"nah. gaster was the genius. i was mostly there to be his rubber duck." The human looked confused. "it's a programming concept. when you can't figure out why your code won't work like you want it to, the idea is to get a rubber duck and explain out loud what you want it to do. the process of talking about it helps you find the error. it can be a literal rubber duck, or it can be anybody or anything else. gaster liked my company, so i guess that's why i _fit the bill_." The skeleton winked.

"Wow, Sans. You quack me up." Frisk said in a deadpan deliver. Sans wished Papyrus was around to hear this.

"thanks, pal. _waddle_ i do without you?"

Frisk had to giggle at that one, but quickly returned to seriousness. "Okay, no more. We need to get to work. Who do you want to see first?"

"well... thing is, there were many others on our team. but they… all died around the same time. along with gaster and some monsters from other projects."

"What happened?"

Sans frowned a bit. "no one is really sure. it was after i left, so i wasn't there."

Frisk hesitated, and then asked. "Why did you quit?"

He smiled. "i was tired of quacking off. anyway, it's considered a very big mystery. it was a long time ago, so people don't bring it up much now. most think they were in the same room and suffocated; toxic gases from hotland's magma leaked in, maybe. but the thing is, no one found the dust."

"Oh. So, um, who _can_ we talk to?"

"i guess we find some monsters from other projects." Sans thumbed through the other pages of the binders. "see who we can find."

Frisk gave a slow sigh. "This is going to be hard, isn't it?"

"maybe. but hey, i'm feeling good about things." He rubbed the child's hair playfully. "we finally have leads, buddy."

* * *

 **This chapter was fun to write. How many other Undertale fics can claim to include white collar crimes? This is cutting edge storytelling, you guys. I hope to squeeze in one more update before the new year but there's a decent chance I won't get to.**

 **Anyway,** **I want to say thanks. I appreciate all of the reviews, favorites, and follows so much-my giant ego is adoring the attention. I am grateful for all the kindness you all have given me and I hope this story continues to live up to your standards!**


	11. Visiting Friends

After some looking through the binder (and double checking to make sure they were alive), you and Sans held hands and took a shortcut to Snowdin to look for the first of Gaster's several ex-employees. Assuming they kept the same address, they lived a little north of the main street—near the ice generator.

In front of the house you intended to visit, a couple of rocks were outside playing monsters and humans. You couldn't help but give them a small smile; even though they weren't moving at all, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. You tore your eyes away from the fun once Sans and you were at the door. The skeleton gave a quick knock.

"Ahh, what a lovely sound." Came a muffled voice from inside. You and Sans glanced at each other, waiting for whoever was inside to answer. After a few minutes of silence, Sans knocked again. "My, there it is again!" Responded the voice. A few more seconds, and Sans knocked a little harder. "Delightful. Perhaps if I don't answer it will come again."

This process continued much longer than Sans would later admit. You found your attention drifting away. Curiously, you decided to look back at the playing children—but someone else caught your eye. A strange feeling came over you as, over by the fence, you saw someone who you were certain you had never seen before. And yet, in the back of your mind, you could feel recognition… and something else. Was that fear?

The stranger was tall, thin, and dark with a bone-white head. A deep, black crack linked their eye to their smiling mouth. They gave you a slow wave. Hesitantly, you waved back. They seemed to tell you something—you couldn't make sense of it, but you understood that they wanted you to approach them.

You took a step, but something held you back. Someone was holding your hand. With a little bit of force, you pulled yourself free and took a few more steps. The closer you got to the figure, the quieter and quieter the voices in the back of your mind were. You felt yourself becoming calm and clear. And then something firmly grabbed your arm. The figure vanished. You blinked. Where did they go?

You gradually became aware of a voice. "—you hear me? kid. kid. please, kid. he's gone. frisk. look at me." You turned your head to see Sans staring hard at you. He was still grabbing your arm. He searched your face. "do you understand me?"

"Um. Yes." You felt dazed, but you could understand him.

"kid, it was gaster. he tried to take you again, that god damn piece of... i was right _here_." A flair of anger passed the skeleton's face, but it was quickly replaced with a more cautious smile. "you alright?"

"Gaster…" you said, for a moment lost. And then it came back to you. Oh. _Oh_. You tensed up, finally realizing what just happened. What almost happened. Any feelings of confusion were replaced with horror. Even though the threat was gone, you began to shake. Something about the look on your face caused Sans to pull you closer for a protective hug. He smelled like ketchup.

"it's alright, buddy. he's gone." He muttered as soothingly as he could. You hugged him back; his jacket was thick and soft, but you could feel the hard ridges of the bones beneath it. You didn't care. Gaster almost took you again. He almost took you away, just like before. Even with Sans there, you weren't safe. You had completely lost control of yourself. You were helpless. You hugged Sans tighter—not out of affection, but out of fear. You took a deep shaky breath and let out a sob.

"ok, kiddo, let it out. it's ok. i have you now. you're safe, buddy." Sans hand brushed through your hair as you cried. You don't know how long the two of you stood there—your head buried in his chest as he hugged you, but eventually you felt calm enough to relax your arms around him. He looked a little relieved by that—you must've been hurting him.

"I don't want to be here anymore." You whispered. You glanced over at the rocks, who were staring instead of playing now. Your face flushed with embarrassment. Those kids must've seen everything. You felt Sans nod and he took a step back.

"take my hand." He said softly. You did. The two of you took a couple steps and then you were outside the lab. You both went inside.

Undyne and Papyrus were there. The papers scattered around looked in mildly worse shape than before. "Back already?" Undyne said with a grin. Papyrus looked up.

"HEY GUYS, DID YOU—" The skeleton sobered when his gaze rested on your puffy and teary face. "WHAT HAPPENED?"

"gaster. nobody's hurt, just shaken up." Undyne and Papyrus jumped up, their movements scattering some papers around.

"FRISK, ARE YOU OKAY?" The skeleton took a couple long steps to reach you. He kneeled to look you in the face. You rubbed your eyes and nodded. You felt like such a little kid just then. "DO YOU WANT A HUG?" You nodded again, breaking into a shaky smile. Papyrus complied and gave you the sweetest hug in the world. Without warning, Undyne joined in—hugging you both so hard she even picked you up a little. You glanced at Sans to see him tapping away on his phone; he was recording the encounter with Gaster.

After a few more minutes of their comfort, Papyrus and Undyne shifted their attention to Sans. You returned to holding his hand—you were not ready to go without physical contact just then.

"What did he do?"

"nothing really. we were knocking on someone's door and the kid just walks away. i look over and they're walking right towards him. so i grabbed them and he disappeared."

"How could you let him do that? You were right there!" You didn't like Undyne's accusing tone. You inched a little closer to Sans.

"i stopped it, didn't i? it happened so fast." He furrowed his brow. "another second and i could've lost them…" Hearing that, you felt another small wave of anxiety pass through you. You didn't like knowing how close of a call it was. You gripped his hand tighter.

"SANS…" Papyrus had a pained expression. "HAVE YOU SLEPT AT ALL RECENTLY?"

Sans gave him a confused look. "no, but…"

"COULD IT BE YOU WERE..." The taller brother rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I MEAN, MAYBE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE HIM… YOU'VE BEEN TAKING A LOT OF SHORTCUTS, WAY MORE THAN USUAL. YOU MUST BE EXHAUSTED."

"pap." Sans gave a tight smile. "i'm fine, bro."

"No, he's right. You're not on your game." Undyne crossed her arms.

"it isn't my fault it happened so fast. i looked away two seconds."

"NO, OF COURSE NOT, BUT… THIS GASTER IS SERIOUS. WE COULD WATCH FRISK… JUST FOR A LITTLE WHILE. TO LET YOU SLEEP."

Your eyes widened. Would that work? Could other monsters protect you from Gaster? You had assumed Sans was the only one. You looked at him. He was glaring at Undyne and Papyrus.

"we don't know that will work."

"You think you're the only one who can scare a stupid ghost? Please."

Sans glanced around the room. "where's alphys? let's see what she thinks."

"SHE'S IN THE BASEMENT, LOOKING FOR SOMETHING. SANS… NOBODY BLAMES YOU FOR WHAT HAPPENED, BUT GETTING REST WOULD HELP PREVENT IT."

"sleeping makes it _worse_. i don't need it." Sans took a small step between you and the two monsters. "just because we let you in doesn't mean you can take over. i'm the one who saved them. i'm the one who figured it out."

"WE KNOW, BUT—"

"no." Sans turned you both around and tightened his grip on your hand. "we're leaving."

"Oh _no_ you don't!" Undyne shouted. You saw a flash of blue in his eye and heard a small crash. You looked back and saw Undyne had somehow ended up in a tall stack of files. They were flying everywhere. You heart beat a little harder as Sans led you out the door. Papyrus stared after you in shock. Sans pulled you too fast, you stepped a slightly wrong and it reawaked the mild ache in your injured ankle. You had to limp to keep up.

You tried to say something. "Sans-" He pulled you through a shortcut—the unexpected change stunned you for a moment. You were back in the lab. "Sans." You said again. He led you towards the Constant and with his free hand ripped off its cover. "Sans?"

"i'm sorry kid, ok? i'm sorry. i shouldn't have encouraged you to tell them. it was a bad idea. they just don't understand." He began typing one-handed on the keyboard. He wouldn't let go of your hand. He was holding on too tightly. You felt your fingers begin to ache.

"Sans."

"we need to see what they uploaded so far, we'll have to figure the rest out on our own, kiddo. it isn't safe to keep them involved, they're gonna to get you killed."

"Sans!" Finally, you tore your hand free. Sans head shot up to stare at you. You took a shaky breath. "You're scaring me."

His anxious expression turned carefully neutral, but his posture was still visibly tense. "don't be afraid."

"What are you doing? Just…" You stepped back nervously. "They were trying to help."

"kid, they don't understand. we can't risk letting gaster show up again. it's too slow. we're going too slow. this shit is too serious."

"B-but they're…" You struggled to think of a response. "We can't do it by ourselves"

"yes we can. we were fine before."

"No! We weren't!" You were both surprised by the volume of your words. You gulped and spoke again, this time much more softly. "I was never safe, Sans. We just thought I was. I'm not safe right now, either. He could show up at any time. He could be… he could be watching us right now and waiting for another chance. Cutting the others out—that just makes me more afraid. And Sans…" You felt your eyes get hot. "You used your magic. After you promised me."

"kid, i didn't use it on _you_. undyne was… she was…"

"She wasn't a danger to anybody, she was helping! I… Sans, I just don't understand." You hugged yourself tightly. "Why are you acting like this?"

The skeleton didn't speak. He just looked at you. And then at the floor. And then at the Constant. Slowly, he turned the monitor off and pulled the cover back over it. He stared at the cover a long time. "do you really want to go back?"

"Yes." You said. Your voice was shaky.

He turned to you and gave a small nod in defeat. "ok. everything i'm doing here… it's for you. so if you want to go back, we'll go back." He stood up slowly from the chair and took a couple steps before pausing and looking at you. He held out his hand to you and, hesitantly, you took it. The hand he had hurt stayed at your side.

A few seconds later, you were back at the lab and you quickly dropped his hand. The door opened without either of you prompting it, revealing Alphys. She jumped, startled. "Oh! Y-you came back!"

Papyrus was behind her. "HEY! WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO LOOK FOR YOU! IS UH… ARE YOU OKAY?"

Sans gave a slight shrug, expression revealing nothing. "kid didn't feel safe. we're sticking with you guys."

Alphys' claws fiddled together anxiously. "D-did you… are you still, um, against taking a nap?"

Sans looked at you for an answer. You didn't know what to say. Before, you didn't feel safe away from his presence but now… now you didn't exactly feel safe with him, either. It wasn't that you were frightened of him, but he had gotten so upset. He hurt your hand, he used magic, and he just tried to bail on everybody for no good reason! You found yourself questioning his judgement. Maybe he really did need some rest. You looked at Alphys—you didn't want to see the look on Sans face when you said, "He needs to sleep."

Once you were all inside, Alphys ran upstairs to set up the bed for Sans. Papyrus, Undyne, Sans, and you all stood in silence. The papers were still a mess. Papyrus inhaled, preparing to speak, but then Alphys returned.

"Sans? The bed's, um, ready."

Wordlessly, Sans made his way upstairs. Alphys nervously called after him, "D-don't worry about Frisk! We're all going take good care of them." The skeleton made no response. One he was out of sight, everybody seemed to visibly relax.

Undyne looked at you and gave a crooked smile. "Want to help us clean up? We'll teach you the system." You gave the best smile you could manage and nodded.

* * *

 **I hope this chapter isn't too messy to follow, let me know if it is.**

 **A thing you might not have noticed: Sans is the only one in this story who spells it 'ok' instead of 'okay'. People seem to think ok is less correct even though it was the original spelling, but I will agree it does feel more casual. I decided Sans would use ok and everybody else would, for the most part, use okay. Oh, and of course Toriel would use O.K.  
**

 **Happy new years! Next update coming soon!**


	12. Rest

**Another suicide mention for this chapter. Because I've added a warning to the story description, I'm not going to be making any more of these at the beginning of chapters (unless you all think I should-let me know!)**

* * *

Sans was not sleeping. He laid on the bed and stared up at the bland white ceiling of Alphys' lab. He felt exhausted, yes, but more so, he felt deeply unsettled. He didn't expect Gaster to have the audacity to show up right in front of him. The kidnapping attempt was obviously not cleverly planned, but still very disturbing. Maybe that was the goal, to be disturbing. To display how easy it is for Gaster to just… take Frisk away from him.

Sans had fucked up. His reaction almost wasn't quick enough. Like the last encounter, Sans hesitated to step in and save Frisk. He felt something powerful in his mind telling him to look away, to ignore, to just let it happen. Sans didn't think much of it before, but now he guessed this was an another effect of Gaster's. He felt fortunate that those thoughts didn't totally override his instinct to protect the human. He feared that the monsters downstairs wouldn't be so lucky.

They were right in that Sans couldn't stay awake forever. He knew his reactions were slower and he was having trouble focusing. But what other choice did he have? Napping felt counterproductive and dangerous. He only agreed to come back and rest was because of the human. Even then, Sans couldn't deny the betrayal that stung him when Frisk didn't take his side. He was the one who discovered the problem in the first place. He was the one who saved the kid twice now. More than that when you factor the previous run. After everything he did for them, they still wouldn't trust him. Why? _Why?_

Sans turned to bury his head in the pillow. He was not feeling well. Every few minutes since the Gaster encounter, a wave of sickening anxiety passed through him. He could feel it building deep in his ribcage. The skeleton had done what he could to hide this from the others—he didn't want to frighten the kid. When Frisk was crying into his chest, Sans himself was desperately trying to suppress his own growing horror. It had finally donned on him how outmatched they really were. Gaster could presumably go to any point in time and space, but there they were knocking on doors for scraps of useless information. Who was he kidding? It was a hopeless cause. His urge to keep fighting was only sustained by the terrifying consequences of failure, whatever those happened to be.

The truth was, Sans felt cornered. His flight or fight response was kicking in, but there was nowhere to run and no one to fight. He had no relief for all this pent up agitation. The others wanted him to sleep and be passive, but all Sans wanted was to get shit done. Not for the first time since entering the bedroom, Sans felt the urge to just take off. But he couldn't. He couldn't leave Frisk. It felt wrong to try tackling their problems without them.

Sans thought of the look on Frisk's face, back in his lab _._ They accused him of breaking his promise about magic, but he had to disagree. He swore he wouldn't use magic on _them_. They couldn't expect him to give it up altogether. Sans' magic was a part of him. He wouldn't ask them to give up squinting, or whatever. It felt unfair to Sans that once again, he was wracked with guilt he didn't feel he deserved. This kid had a talent for making Sans feel lower than trash.

Another wave of anxiety passed through the skeleton, more feelings of doom. He felt an intense desire to hit something. He balled the blanket in his fists tightly and shivered. That damn human. They were just a child, what could they know? He could handle it. No, no, he couldn't handle it. He was overwhelmed. Sans didn't have a prayer against Gaster.

That fucking Gaster-even in the afterlife he looked smug. The old scientist wasn't like most monsters; he didn't have an ounce of sincerity in his body. He practiced strategic charisma; perfectly charming when it benefitted him and a nightmare otherwise. Working for him was like a roller coaster—there would be times where Sans was forced to work for days at a time, miserable and overworked to death. Just when he would start to seriously consider Papyrus' urges to quit, Gaster would take Sans out to lunch and find some way to overinflate his ego. Sans worked there for years and years despite the obvious cycle of abuse; he was ashamed how long he let it continue. His only consistent reasons for staying on were the good pay and his passion for the work itself.

It was funny how little Gaster had changed. Even dead, he was a master of manipulation. Sans watched Frisk go from delighted to a full on panic attack in less than a minute. It was eerily similar to most of Sans' young adulthood. It was so wrong that Gaster could get away with it all over again. Sans knew Gaster had no intention to torture the kid—whatever suffering he put them through was just a means to get what he wanted. Gaster didn't care about ethics or empathy.

Speaking of cruel individuals, Sans still hadn't touched the notes on Chara. He had been waiting for a good time. The skeleton pulled the phone from his pocket and frowned at it. If he couldn't contribute downstairs and he couldn't fall asleep—at least he could do this. Surely, it would be an upsetting read, but he would have to look at it sooner or later. How much more upset could he be?

Sans propped himself up against the headboard with some pillows and, with a sigh, began to read. He had trouble concentrating on the writing at first, his thoughts kept drifting back to other worries, but it wasn't long before he found his focus. He already knew some of what Frisk had written about the royal family. Asriel's fate was new to him, and he had to pause a moment to process. He'd seen that flower many times, he'd even fought with it. All this time, it was the prince trapped in some miserable existence—in their own endless loop. It seemed like every day, Sans was discovering other individuals trapped outside of time. He wondered how many others there were in the world suffering this fate.

Sans continued reading. Eventually, the subject shifted to Chara. It was difficult for him, reading about all of the death—even though Frisk decided to not get very detailed, Sans' own memories filled his mind. He could vividly remember his own death. Losing his brother was the worst thing that ever happened to Sans until he died himself. Experiencing your own life end in such a violent way… well, it was traumatic. But Sans only had one memory of dying. Frisk had dozens and dozens. Every single reset was caused by their death. And they had died in many ways—almost all of them violent.

Sans looked away from the phone a moment. Frisk had really _killed_ themselves. Multiple times. They were just a child. Sans couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like, waking up every day with that knowledge in your head. To know that they had done it before and would likely have to do it again. Sans couldn't figure out how he felt about it. He decided he couldn't judge their past decisions. If they could've found another way to overcome Chara, they would've. It made him feel ill. If he was feeling so terrible, what were _they_ going though? How could they possibly be so brave?

Sans supposed it was because they had to. Frisk was surviving because they had no other choice. They had ended their own existence, and the universe said _no_. Over and over, just like Sans, they were dragged back to day one. Back to that… that Save Point.

Sans dropped the phone to the bed and rubbed his skull. Somewhere, in all this tragedy, there had to be a solution. He did have a thought the night before, which prompted him to ask Frisk to write all of this. An idea had formed in his head, but now it made him feel gross. He couldn't ask the human to go through what he had in mind. No, he should forget the whole thing. It was stupid and dangerous and far too cruel. Chara was _not_ the solution to Gaster.

"YOU'RE STILL AWAKE?"

Sans shot over to the source of the voice. It was Papyrus, standing at the entrance. The taller skeleton looked distraught.

"BROTHER, YOU NEED TO SLEEP."

Sans shifted some. He couldn't think of what to say.

With a sigh, Papyrus strode in and sat at the foot of the bed. "SANS… I'VE SEEN YOU LIKE THIS BEFORE." He frowned weakly at Sans. "REMEMBER WHEN YOU WORKED HERE? YOU WERE ALWAYS SO UNHAPPY AND ANGRY. GASTER IS GETTING TO YOU ALL OVER AGAIN. HE IS MAKING YOU FEEL BAD ABOUT YOURSELF."

"he's very good at that." Sans mumbled.

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, KNOW I CANNOT STOP GASTER ALONE. AND IF I CAN'T, MY SILLY BROTHER DEFINITELY CAN'T. WE ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER. THE BURDEN SHOULD BE SHARED. YOU HAVE WORKED VERY HARD AND DID A LOT OF GOOD, BUT NOW YOU NEED TO SLEEP. YOU ARE VERY CLEVER WHEN YOU ARE WELL RESTED, BROTHER. WE NEED YOU TO BE CLEVER."

Sans straightened up with a frown. "pap… if gaster shows up, he could make you… he could affect you. gaster will make you want to ignore what's happening and let him get away with it. i know through experience i can overcome it, but we've never seen another monster do that. i just… we don't know this is safe."

Papyrus considered. "WELL, YOU CAN'T STAY AWAKE FOREVER. THIS PROBLEM WOULD HAVE COME UP EVENTUALLY. WE AT LEAST HAVE TO TRY. YOU STILL HAVE THE GASTER ALERT. AND WE CAN WAKE YOU UP IF THERE'S A PROBLEM. BUT SANS, FRISK THEMSELF WANTS YOU TO SLEEP. THEY KNOW THE RISKS AND THEY ACCEPTED IT. JUST DON'T WASTE THE TIME WE'VE GIVEN YOU TO REST."

Sans looked down. "pap… i can't sleep even if i tried." He was ashamed. "i'm just too afraid."

"THEN LET ME TUCK YOU IN." Sans looked at his brother. Was he serious? But then Papyrus did just that. He adjusted the pillows, let Sans slip in under the fresh blankets, and tucked him in. Papyrus sat beside him and patted on his head affectionately. Sans felt strange about the whole thing, but he had to admit, it was a little comforting. Papyrus even told his brother a bedtime story—some fantastic tale taken from an anime Undyne had shown him. Something about ninjas.

The story was ridiculous, but a calming distraction from Sans' anxieties. Seeing Papyrus so excited about the eye patched ninja ("JUST LIKE UNDYNE!") doing some power with his bad eye made Sans smile. He didn't even notice himself grow more and more tired. The skeleton fell asleep shortly after one ninja made an eyeball out of sand.

* * *

 **This chapter is a little all over the place, but Sans had a lot of feelings and they do contradict a little bit. Emotions are messy. Hopefully you get the idea: guilt and anxiety. Lots and lots of anxiety.**


	13. Desk Work

It felt a little strange with Sans gone after a solid day of never being out of his sight. You would have expected to get sick of him in that time, but surprisingly the two of you had become very comfortable near each other. Well, not anymore. You weren't sure where things stood now.

It took the rest of the afternoon to get the papers sorted. Undyne spent over an hour explaining the organizational system of the papers, and even then, you were _pretty_ sure it was total nonsense. She became very frustrated when you couldn't understand why would there be an entire pile dedicated to files that have seven syllables in the name. In a fit of exasperation, she accidentally kicked the pile. Papers flew everywhere and the mess doubled in size. After that, Papyrus excused himself to check on his brother. He took a long time to come back—you suspected to escape the growing chaos downstairs.

Eventually, Alphys switched you to recording duties while she and Undyne worked on paper sorting. She showed you how to work with a spreadsheet program and record every single project name, start and end date, and budgetary breakdown. It was horrible mind-numbing work, so Alphys offered to play some anime in the background for everyone to enjoy. Because it was in Japanese you couldn't follow the plot as you worked, but you still enjoyed the over-the-top voice acting and colorful music of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie as you typed.

You were grateful to have your friends, the repetitive work, and loud anime to distract you from the troubles that would otherwise weigh heavily on your mind. No, you would not let yourself think about Gaster. You began humming to yourself, absolutely not at all feeling vulnerable to another encounter. You kept your eyes glued to the monitor. Everything was fine. You were fine. _I'm safe. I'm safe_. Something touched your back and you gave a startled shout.

"Oh! U-um, sorry."

You turned to see Alphys and felt relief. It was just her. Everything's still fine. You smiled. "It's okay, just surprised me. Um, what is it?"

The lizard tapped her claws against each other. "I just, um, thought maybe you'd like a break? You haven't moved in three hours."

Wow, you had no idea. You tried to climb out of the chair, but almost fell in the process. You hadn't realized a leg had fallen asleep, and your back was so sore from hunching over. You took a few seconds to stretch and rub your leg as it painfully returned to life. As you did, you noticed that Papyrus had finally returned; he was helping Undyne sort some old binders by weight (for some reason). A beach episode of Mew Mew was playing on the television.

"S-so, I was looking for things in the basement earlier. Until the, um, until we had to go help you and Sans. I think it's time to try looking again." She offered a nervous smile. "Maybe you'd, um, like to come help me search the basement? Just to walk around?"

"What about the—" You stopped yourself. You weren't supposed to know about the Amalgamates in this life. She must have them under control if she was inviting you downstairs. You smiled back at the scientist and nodded. "Sounds fun."

A short elevator ride later, you were in the basement. But it wasn't the True Lab as expected—turns out there was another underground floor just below the main. That made sense. You had never had opportunity to look before; the elevator always broke in past lives. "U-um, back when Gaster was the R-Royal Scientist, a lot of monsters worked here. This floor was for administration and, um, offices. I don't think Gaster's old office has been touched since he died. I was trying to get in. Surely we could find something there. It's, uh, locked though."

Your eyebrows raised. "Why didn't you tell us about it before? We could've…"

Alphys shrugged. "I-I didn't think of it until you left. I figured I'd look myself, but I didn't get far before Undyne called and told me what Sans did. And then when you came back, well, we needed to get things back on track with the files upstairs. A-also, I didn't want to give Sans another reason to stay awake. This was the first good opportunity to say something."

You nodded and gave her an understanding smile. "Well, that's alright. When Sans wakes up, this can be a new surprise for him." Alphys smiled back.

"Come on! L-let me show you where it is… we just don't have a way inside." You followed her as she quickly scurried through the bland halls and corridors, until you both arrived to the door of a large office. It didn't look very spectacular, but the sign reading "W. D. GASTER" on the frosted glass window informed you this was your destination. You peered through the window, but all you could see was darkness inside.

"Where would the key be?" You looked back at Alphys. She smiled and shrugged. You bit your lip thoughtfully. "Should we just… break the door down?"

"Uh, I… guess?" The lizard scratched her chin. "I don't think anybody would mind."

You smiled. "We could use the phone! It shoots pellets, right?"

Alphys smiled. "How did you know about that?"

"I was, er, playing with it." That was a lie, you had barely touched your upgraded phone except for notetaking, but the pellet function came in handy in many previous lives during fights with Mettaton Ex.

Alphys stood back as you aimed the cellphone at the glass. It took a few shots to break the window. You reached in, mindful of the broken glass, to unlock the door from the inside. You and Alphys exchanged triumphant grins and cautiously stepped inside. It smelled like mildew; you wondered how long it's been since someone had cleaned up in there. Alphys found the light switch.

The office was humble, but large. Filing cabinets lined the walls. There was a desk and chair at the center, perfectly tidy, with a small wastebasket to side. Alphys picked a random cabinet to behind her search and you sat at the desk and began shuffling through the drawers. The bottom one, you noticed, was locked. You decided to focus your search for a key. As you looked, a question came to mind.

"Did you ever work for Gaster?"

"Um, no. H-he was before my time—I was just a kid when he died. I became Royal Scientist a few years later, but the title doesn't mean as much now. I'm the only one who works here now."

"Why does nobody else work here anymore?" You asked. You had found an old calendar in the top drawer and looked through it as you spoke.

"He and twelve other monsters disappeared all at once, one day. N-nobody really knows what happened." Alphys pulled a stack of manila folders from one of the cabinets and sat them down on the floor. "It was, um, a big deal. Some monsters accused the King of some kind of cover up. I don't think that's right, though. I think he was just as scared and confused as the rest of us. He shut down the lab entirely for a while because of it all. But when he saw what I did for Mettaton, you don't know him but he's really cool, the King started the lab up again and hired me as Royal Scientist. It's a, uh, lonely job now."

"So, did you know much about the Constant? Back where Sans and Papyrus live?"

Alphys looked at you and smiled. "I know of it. Upstairs we have a few files on it, even. It's a weird thing, huh? But powerful, I can see why Sans uses it as our server." She chuckled. "I wonder if it even works. For, you know, time travel."

"Um. I guess we'll never know." You replied, hopefully not sounding suspicious. Unfortunately, all of the accessible drawers were pretty empty and revealed very little about Gaster. You would have to try the locked one. "Didn't anybody else investigate this room after the disappearance?"

"Um, if they did, I don't know about it. This place seems untouched."

"Where were they last seen when they all disappeared?" Looking at the drawer, you decided the only way to get in would be to take it apart.

"Um, here in the lab." You could hear the nervousness in her voice. "There's a, er, a deeper level. We can't go there. It's not safe to visit." You guessed she was referring to the True Lab.

You were happy to see the desk was cheaply made—the back of it was a thin piece of wood attached to the frame with large staples. Dumb old Gaster probably didn't expect someone to just get in this way. You found a screwdriver function in your phone (hey, if it came with a jetpack and a gun, why not that?) and used it to wedge the back off of the desk frame. You didn't realize Alphys was staring at you.

"Um, what're you doing there?"

You looked over at her and smiled. "Locked drawer."

Once the wood was removed, you were happy to see you could now see the backs of each of the drawers. You pushed all of the unlocked ones out as far as they would go, allowing you access to the locked drawer from the back of the desk. You couldn't open it, but you could still reach inside. You couldn't help but smile, feeling victorious and clever, as you put your hand inside. There was only one thing in it, a single sheet of paper, which you pulled out to reveal…

A crossword puzzle. Of course. You stared blankly at the sheet of paper. There was a cartoon of Ice-E in the top left corner who, at that moment, seemed to be grinning mockingly. It was mostly incomplete except for one word filled out in red ink, but in strange symbols instead of letters.

Alphys peered over your shoulder to see and let out a chuckle. "Oh, yeah, that's Gaster's alright."

"It's very… hard to read." You frowned.

"Yeah, he wrote in Wing Dings. It's a, um, type of code, but not hard to break, really. He did stuff like this a lot. He was kind of eccentric." Alphys pulled out her phone for a moment and showed you a simple table. Each Wing Dings symbol corresponded to a letter of the alphabet. "Maybe he didn't want someone copying his answers, ha ha…"

You took the phone and used it to quickly transcribe the single written answer in your head. Looking at the corresponding hint, Gaster was clearly off to a bad start on this puzzle. He definitely misspelled "residue" for the question about dirty dishes left unwashed by a dog. You turned the paper over and found something else on the back-a short, hastily scribbled note in Wing Dings. Now that looked far more interesting. The translation, however, was nonsense. You read it aloud for Alphys.

"CD /G/SP USR DOG"

"That's, um…" The scientist looked at you. "I don't know what to make of that."

You let out a frustrated sigh and stuffed the paper into your pocket. "Probably something stupid. Let's just get what we need and head out."

Alphys smiled. "L-let me just go get something to put all these files in to take upstairs. I think I found everything we need." She began to step out.

"Wait! Uh, I need to stay with you." You jumped up to follow her. "You know, um. Because of Gaster?"

"Oh my god!" Alphys' eyed widened. "I completely forgot you, uh…" She smiled nervously. "I'm sorry. I wasn't even thinking about that."

You smiled weakly. "It's okay, but… well, I'm not safe by myself. Sorry."

"No, no! _I'm_ sorry." The two of you looked at each other a few moments, feeling awkward. "Uh… well let's go!"

* * *

 **If you know what the back of the note means, you might be a little bit of a nerd. Just saying. If you don't know, I don't blame you. Either way, all will probably be revealed in the next chapter.**

 **Also, totally off topic, but the new episode of Steven Universe was so freaking good. I wasn't ready. My poor heart can't handle cuteness of that magnitude.**


	14. Dog: Hacked

Sans did not wake up peacefully. He, in fact, fell out of the bed. What confused him was how much this hurt—his mattress was only a few inches above the floor after all. Wait. Sans sat up suddenly—or tried to, but he was tangled up in blankets. This wasn't his room. Where was he? What happened? Another reset?

He pulled one arm free from the blanket trap and felt around himself for a phone. What day was it? What happened? Where was…?

"pap?" Sans called out, but his voice was unexpectedly hoarse. No response. In a fit of agitation, Sans flailed his limbs about him until finally he was free from the web of fabric. With a sigh of relief, he pulled himself (somewhat wobbly) to a standing position. His initial confusion faded when he saw the poster of the cat-eared girl on the wall. Oh yeah. Alphys' lab. It all came back to him.

Sans looked at the small stand next to the bed to see his phone, plugged in and charged. He picked it up to check the date (a force of habit, but he was certain there wasn't a reset). He must've slept through the entire night, as it was now early morning. Sans was relieved to see he had no messages—Gaster had evidently not made any appearances the entire time.

Sans pulled his phone from the charger and slipped it into his pocket (he was still wearing the same jacket and bottoms—good thing he didn't sweat or he'd be quite stinky after all this time). Taking a second to brace himself against any leftover awkwardness from yesterday's fight, Sans made his way downstairs. As the skeleton descended, he became aware of the scent of pizza.

Undyne's voice rang through the room. "So the man answers—how do you think I rang the doorbell!"

"…I DON'T GET IT."

"M-me neither…"

"I get it!" Frisk's voice piped. "He rang it with his—"

"g'morning." Sans said. He absolutely did not want to hear the kid finish that sentence. He found Undyne, Papyrus, and Frisk all sitting on the floor with a large pizza between them. It was covered in spaghetti.

While Alphys, Undyne, and Frisk all froze nervously, Papyrus lit up at the sight of his shorter brother. "GOOD MORNING, SLEEPY BONES! WANT SOME BREAKFAST?"

Undyne evidently decided to follow Papyrus' cheerful lead and gave a massive grin. "It's homemade!"

"Well, n-not really." Alphys chuckled. "It was a frozen pizza…"

"BUT WE MADE THE TOPPINGS!"

Sans smiled at the mess of spaghetti admiringly. "looks great. so, uh, what happened to all the files?"

"W-we got everything in the Constant!" Alphys smiled proudly. "So I took them back downstairs. We, uh, found more details on them in Gaster's old office, too. Receipts, payrolls, old calendars…"

"woah, nice." Sans joined his friends on the floor and took a piece of pizza. All of the spaghetti slid off of it immediately. "so what do you figure?"

"I think he definitely was stealing." Alphys took a bite of her own piece thoughtfully. "But, uh, no sign of what for. Couldn't find anything else on Save Point."

Frisk, who had been quiet the entire time, finally spoke up. "We also, um, found this." They pulled a crumbled sheet of paper and had to stand up a little to pass it to the skeleton. From the first look, it was just a regular crossword puzzle—until he saw the handwriting.

"man, gaster just could _not_ spell."

"You can read Wing Dings?"

Sans grinned at the human. "yeah, 'snot that hard, buddy."

The human scooted closer. "Look at the back."

Sans turned it over—this side, he decided, was _far_ more interesting. He had no trouble deciphering the Wing Dings, even despite the chicken scratch handwriting: CD /G/SP USR DOG. "huh, looks like Unix commands. cd… that means change directory. usr dog could mean username is dog."

Alphys smacked herself in the head. "Oh, of course. Stupid."

The child looked confused. "Unix?"

"don't know it? it's a human invention, kid. it's a sort of operating system for computers. most computers down here run on some version or another of it." Well, he guessed it wasn't so strange for the human to not know this stuff, they were only a child. Sans, meanwhile, had been working with computers his entire adult life.

"So… what do we do with that information?" Undyne asked, her mouth full with spaghetti pizza.

Sans turned the paper over, thinking. "well, personal computers weren't really a thing back then. the only computers gaster could have worked with were the core and the constant…"

Alphys scratched her chin. "So we check them for the directories he's talking about? /g/sp?"

"What does that mean?" Frisk asked.

"it means under the username dog, there is a file called g, and inside that file is another called sp. that's where we want to look. alph, you want to check the core? i can check the constant." The scientist nodded, grinning brightly.

"WHAT ABOUT UNDYNE AND I?"

"um, you can stay here and watch the kid, i guess." The skeleton noticed a disappointed look cross the child's face. "unless you… want to come with me, kiddo?"

The child fidgeted. "Um. I'd like to come."

"Well, we can come with you guys, too." Undyne eyed the skeleton carefully. "Right?"

"uh, well…" Sans didn't want to sound like an asshole, but the truth was, he just didn't want others in his lab. He kept it secret for a reason.

"Well, we're not leaving you alone with the kid." The fish crossed her arms. "Not after yesterday."

"UNDYNE! SANS WAS JUST UPSET—HE'S FINE NOW!"

She shook her head. "Not talking about that. Gaster appeared on _your_ watch, dude."

Sans wilted. Well, she wasn't wrong. It _was_ worrisome. Gaster hadn't made a single appearance in the night under the other monsters' watch, but could that be a coincidence? He had trouble believing that he, he who had been looking after Frisk since day one, was now the least qualified to protect them. But maybe that was his ego overriding his logic. It shouldn't matter what he wanted—only what was best for everyone.

Papyrus looked at his shorter brother worriedly and stepped in. "WHAT IF FRISK AND I JOIN YOU, BROTHER? UNDYNE, YOU SHOULD GO WITH ALPHYS!"

Everyone seemed satisfied with this solution (especially Alphys, who laughed loudly and nervously at Papyrus' suggestion). Once breakfast was finished and everyone was ready, they all exchanged quick hugs and agreed to meet back at the lab. Sans joined hands with Frisk, who joined hands with Papyrus, and in a long line they walked out of the western door of Alphys' lab and through a shortcut.

"WOW, HAVEN'T BEEN HERE SINCE WE MOVED IN!" Papyrus chirped. Sans quickly dropped the human's hand to remove the cover for the Constant.

"try to uh, not touch anything." He said as he turned the monitor on. He still had the crossword puzzle, which he pulled out now as reference. Unfortunately, the Constant ran on a very old operating system that worked entirely on a command line. It was a pain to work with, but he had made so many customizations and edits to the shell, Sans could never bring himself to upgrade and lose it all. He hovered his boney hands over the keyboard and began to type; the computer responded to his input in capital letters.

 **login dog**

 **PASSWORD:**

The skeleton stared at the password prompt. Oh. He hadn't thought that far. He looked down at the crossword puzzle and sighed—of course, no mention of a password. He made a couple of half-assed guesses.

 **PASSWORD: password**

 **ERROR, INVALID LOGIN. PASSWORD: 1337**

 **ERROR, INVALID LOGIN. PASSWORD:** **wangdang**

 **ERROR, INVALID LOGIN. PASSWORD:**

Sans rubbed his face. This wasn't going to work. He felt a tug at his sleeve and looked over to see the human. "What's wrong?" They asked, voice soft.

"he left us a username, but no password, bud. we may be stuck."

"Couldn't you just… force your way in?"

"i don't have admin powers, not since i quit the project. so uh, it wouldn't be easy."

The child frowned at the crumpled paper, sitting beside the keyboard. They picked it up and examined the red notes carefully, and then turned it over. After a few moments of thought, the child spoke up. "Could it be this?" They held up the puzzle side of the paper. The boxes for 11 across were filled in with Gaster's misspelled answer. Sans shrugged. Might as well give it a shot.

 **ERROR, INVALID LOGIN. PASSWORD: residoo**

 **LOGIN SUCCESFUL**

Sans felt a grin forming on his face. "kid, you're a genius." By this time, both Papyrus and Frisk were standing and watching the screen over his shoulders. He decided to explain what he was doing as he typed. "first i'll check the current directory i'm in."

 **pwd**

 **~CONSTANT/DOG/**

"alright, so the default folder is just the home folder for the user dog. let's check all the files and folders in dog."

 **ls -l**

Several files were listed. Sans would have to go through everything himself later. Judging by the given creation dates of each file, Gaster probably didn't create the user until close to the very end of the Constant's development.

"WELL, DO WHAT HIS NOTES SAY! THE CD THING!"

"oh, right." Frisk gave the crossword puzzle to Sans. He studied the command a brief moment and then typed it into the command line. The first command was to move to the given directory in the notes, the second was to list all of the files inside the new location.

 **cd /g/sp**

 **ls -l**

Several files were shown. The first thing the skeleton noticed was that many files had SAVE POINT somewhere in their name—referring, he immediately understood, to the rejected project that Alphys had mentioned the day before. Sans' first move was to open up the file called README.

A wall of words covered the small screen. Papyrus, Frisk, and Sans all unconsciously leaned forward to get a better look. Finally, some answers.

* * *

 **Boo, this website was definitely not happy with me trying to use the greater-than symbol for the command line prompts. I guess they weren't expecting someone to write about computer terminals, heh. Just want to say, I know very little about how to use Unix, Lenox, etc. beyond the basics commands shown here; I am pretty much still a novice.**

 **Hopefully the command line stuff I've shown in this chapter isn't too confusing given the explanations I provided-but please let me know if something doesn't make sense. I was hoping to be at least mildly educational, as this is the sort of thing everyone should know at least a little bit about. Computers are far more fun and useful when we know what we're doing.**

 **Disclaimer: while 'ls' and 'cd' are valid commands used in most PCs today, the login commands I used are not legit. I made them up. I don't actually know how logging in might have worked for Operating Systems dating back to when the Constant would've been made (which is somewhere vaguely around the early 90s or 80s maybe). Also I gave no specific name of the OS used for the Constant, but it's going to be some kind of Monster adaptation of a Unix-like Operating System.**

 **Edit: Wow this website really hates when you include file extentions to words. I had no idea README dot txt was inexplicably censored. I do not understand at all.**


	15. Transition

At first, you thought the screen was too blurry to understand. Then you realized that, no, it was just in Wing Dings. "Um, I can't read this." You looked over at Papyrus, who was crouching over Sans' shoulder and squinting hard at the screen.

"I FORGET, WHAT DOES THE HAND POINTING UP MEAN AGAIN?"

"oh, sorry guys. didn't even realize it was in wing dings, i just started reading." He leaned back in the chair. "didn't know the constant could support fonts like this, weird."

"Um, what does it say?"

"it says this is about the save point project. all the files in this folder make me think that alphys is right about taking funds from other projects to run this one. this readme file seems to be explaining what all the other files entail. so far it doesn't summarize what the project is about very well."

"Wow, so what are you going to look for first?"

Sans rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "names. see who was working on this, if we can find them. of course, i also want to see what the project actually involved. they seemed to find a lot of money for this and i want to know what they spent it on."

"How can we help?"

"i guess i should upload all of this to the server side so everyone can look through it—we can all form our own impressions. i'll also go ahead and change it to a font you can read. it shouldn't take long." He began working on just that, before he suddenly paused. "oh right, can you tell alph we got it?"

Papyrus pulled out his phone. "SURE!" The taller skeleton stepped away to the other side of the room to make his call.

You took a moment to watch Sans—his own eye sockets were fixed to the screen. His posture was hunched and uncomfortable looking, but he didn't appear to notice or care. You opened your mouth, wanting to speak, wanting to take this brief moment of semi-privacy to talk about yesterday. But you couldn't find the words to begin. You felt nervous and awkward.

"kid." He said suddenly, voice low. His gaze shifted to rest on you. "the stuff here… it talks a lot about time loops. this may have a lot of answers for you and i, but don't assume the other monsters won't connect dots, too. you may not have control over what they find out about you through this investigation." You frowned and began to respond, but Papyrus interrupted you.

"THEY'RE GOING BACKTO ALPHYS' LAB NOW! THEY WANT US TO MEET THEM THERE."

"you two go on ahead. i'll be here a little while getting everything translated and on the server side."

You frowned again. You really would've liked to stay, have a moment alone with Sans for a chance to speak frankly. But given the new guarding policy, Sans really couldn't be alone with you anymore. Not that he was dangerous, he was just… not enough against Gaster. A few minutes later, you and Papyrus were ready to head out again. You looked backed at Sans to say goodbye, but his attention was consumed by the computer in front of him. Regretfully, you stepped out of the lab (for the first time in this life actually using its door) and walked with Papyrus to the river.

The River Person cheerfully greeted you both and soon you were on your way to Hotland. As Papyrus and the River Person chatted, you let your head hang over the side of the boat to watch the water rushing past. It was dark and murky and smelled of algae. You dipped a hand in and it felt icy cold, as you would expect. For a moment, you felt something solid touch your fingers and you thought you saw a face beneath the surface. The moment quickly past, but you felt a peculiar nervousness and the strangest urge to jump into the river. Before long, however, your thoughts had moved on and the experience was forgotten.

As the boat made its way around a bend, you heard your phone ring. You pulled it form your pocket and was surprised to see Sans' name on the screen.

"Hello?"

"frisk, are you ok? what happened? i tried shortcutting but i don't have a way to that part of the river. where are you? are you ok? where's papyrus?"

"Um." His tone scared you, but you couldn't imagine what was wrong. "We're on a boat. Do you want to talk to him?" Papyrus looked over to give you a questioning look.

"you sound… did nothing happen? everything's fine?"

"Uh, I think so. What's wrong?"

"gaster appeared. uh, just for a short minute, but i just got an alert. do you remember anything?"

"No, there was nothing, we've just been sitting here. I was… wait. You closed your eyes and furrowed your brow in hard thought. "There might've been something in the water. But… I can't remember."

He waited a few moments, probably hoping for more details than what you gave him. "well, try writing down everything you remember, or tell pap what happened. i think i'm going to set the gaster alert to warn not just me, but all of us, including you."

You nodded, forgetting he was on the phone and had no way of knowing that you were nodding. Evidently, your silence satisfied him though, and he gave a quick goodbye and hung up. Papyrus was still watching you with a worried face.

"Sans, um, said Gaster was in the river a little while ago. I think…. I think I saw him in the water? He touched my hand and it was weird but…" You couldn't really remember the experience in any detail. It was so minor and you had brushed it off as nothing… but now you felt that familiar anxiety returning to you. Why would he show up like that? What was he trying to accomplish? It chilled you that he could just do something like that and you would not even really be aware. Your own senses and thoughts weren't trustworthy. What if he was watching you right now, judging your reaction? You felt exposed and helpless and confused—why was he trying to get at you like that?

Papyrus moved closer to pull you into a hug. He was thin and bony, but the embrace pulled you back to reality. You pressed your head to his sternum. "YOU LOOKED LIKE YOU NEEDED A HUG." He said, as gently as one who only shouted could. "DON'T WORRY, HE DIDN'T HURT YOU OR I WOULD'VE NOTICED. YOU'RE SAFE."

You closed your eyes and let your mind clear for a few moments, willing the fear to pass. You felt the boat beginning to slow to a stop. You must've been arriving at Hotland.

* * *

 **Hello all, I know it's been a long wait for what is quite frankly an underwhelming update. But I made this update in part to keep the story going, but also as a way to let you know what's going on.**

 **School is what's going on. Just began the semester, and it's already turning out to be a pretty intense one! My update schedule is probably going to be very unpredictable and crappy, but I want to assure everyone that I'm still here and I fully intend to keep writing! I am hoping to get the next chapter up before next weekend, but I'm not able to make any guarantees.**

 **Please excuse the short and weak chapter, I called it transition because it is a little bit in between important things. I hope the next chapter will be much more informative!**


	16. Safe Place

The skeleton hunched over the keyboard and stared into the Constants monitor. It flickered slightly, the frame rate was just a little too bit slow, and it gave him a headache. Tiredly, he ran the short script he had written to change the Wing Dings to plain English for every file in Save Point and uploaded each one to the server. As he ran scripts, his mind wandered.

Sans had already learned to read Wing Dings before he ever worked for Gaster. The old scientist famously made all who worked closely under him learn it. Sans was young and ambitious and studied Wing Dings in hope of impressing Gaster into hiring him. Learning it didn't do him much good because Sans still didn't get the job. He had gotten very far, passing many rounds of interviews, but the final gatekeeper to his dream job was W.D. Gaster himself. The old scientist was thoroughly unimpressed by the young and enthusiastic Sans. _"Unfortunately, young man, you would not be a good fit here. You're smart and driven, yes, but I have plenty of smart and driven employees. What I really need is brilliance. I don't see that in you."_

Sans had been crushed. The following weeks, Sans was in a self-pitying slump. He felt his entire life had been distilled into two words: not brilliant. He was not good enough. Papyrus did his best to reinspire Sans' confidence, but really it was boredom that drove the shorter brother to pick himself up. Sans decided, if he couldn't work under the king, he would work for himself. Sans explored many areas in science, but his preferred subject ended up being magic. At the time, Monsters were still mostly following the footsteps of humans in terms of scientific discovery—the trash that drifted into the Underground's dump showed Monsters where to look. Since humans had no magic, and monsters only focused on human science, magic as an area of study was largely ignored. Sans was one of the first to really study it.

Over the course of a year, Sans had made huge progress in understanding the underlying physics of magic. It was always known that there was some magic that was always in the air in the Underground, but Sans was the first to find a way to measure it. He also found that certain areas were especially dense with magic—he theorized a way for a monster to travel between those special locations through something he called "shortcuts" (it would be a few years before Sans could successfully pull shortcuts off himself).

Sans' work ended up getting a lot of attention. A little over a year after Gaster's painful rejection, Sans received a letter inviting him to the Royal Lab in Hotland. When he arrived, he was offered a job by Gaster himself—no mention of the failed interview was ever made.

Something buzzed in the pouch of his jacket and Sans jumped. Without thinking he pulled out his phone and stared at its small screen. _fuck._

Sans spent the next ten minutes taking shortcuts all up and down along the River. Everywhere he could get to, he did. But it wasn't much good—none of the shortcuts were close to the location given by the text message. He considered teleporting upriver and just swimming down to where Gaster showed up and even started removing his jacket before a better idea popped into his head. Sans took his phone out called Frisk.

Their conversation was brief, but it tremendously relieving to hear the child's voice. However, it still worried Sans that Gaster would go through the trouble showing up for a single second of contact with the child. Given the relative infrequency of Gaster's appearances, Sans was under the impression it was difficult for the old phantom to come around more than once a day. So why waste the effort on something like that?

Sans pushed the concerns to the back of his mind and short cutted back to his lab. He rushed to finish getting things in order. When he had updated the Gaster alerts and finished putting all the Save Point data on the server side, he took one last shortcut to Alphys' lab and hopped inside. He was alone with his thoughts for only a few moments, then Alphys and Undyne arrived at the Eastern door giggling to each other about something.

Figuring there was no point in delaying the news, Sans spoke. "gaster showed up. just for a second. kid's fine."

The laughter was abruptly replaced by confused silence. "What?!" Undyne's brows rose in alarm.

"i said the kid's fine." Sans quickly explained what had happened in detail—as much detail as he had, anyway. Frisk's storytelling over the phone was unfortunately extremely sparse. "i updated the gaster alert system to text all of us the next time he makes an appearance. it was stupid of me to not do that much earlier."

"So Frisk isn't safe… even with Papyrus…" Alphys wilted.

Oh right. Sans hadn't even considered that angle, but it was true. It made Sans happy to know it wasn't just he who failed to stop Gaster appearances—and then he felt a stab of shame. He should have not been feeling good about that. His ego was not important, the human was.

The door behind Sans opened, startling the three of them—but it was just Papyrus and Frisk. Undyne and Alphys sped past the short skeleton to pull the child into their arms. He turned to watch the embrace; Sans hadn't realized how close they all had become in the short time they've known each other during this timeline. He pushed down the tiniest spark of jealousy and reminded himself that it makes sense they'd warm up quickly, considering past timelines.

Papyrus, never one to sit out on a hug, joined in resolutely. He smiled at his brother and waved a glove hand in invitation, but Sans didn't make a move. He just smiled politely until the moment of affection finally passed.

"do you still remember what happened, buddy?"

The child shook their head. "Not really. But I remember what I told Papyrus. All that really happened is he was in the water, just for a second, and he touched my hand. That's it."

"Th-that's really weird…" Alphys scratched her chin. "Why bother showing up for just that?"

The kid rubbed their arm. "I don't know." Their voice was soft. It hurt Sans' soul to see them there, back hunched and eyes downcast. The fears that weighed on him were terrible, but Frisk was the one in danger. They were the one being tormented. And they were just a kid.

It took everyone some time to recover from the incident, but soon they were arguing over what to eat for lunch. Frisk got to choose in the end—they wanted 'dogs. It was an easy meal to procure, Sans happened to have dozens in his pockets. Everybody munched happily and Alphys played a movie. It was an anime about a little mermaid girl who befriends a human boy and discovers a very intense love for ham. Undyne was enraptured by all the fish.

After the movie, everyone agreed to begin reading the files Sans had uploaded to the Constant concerning Save Point. With them all working together, figuring out the nature of the project went by quickly.

The first test subject in Save Point had been a blue flower. Embedded deep in its roots was a very tiny vial of Determination—the size of an ant. Gaster had whispered into its petals, "Test One. Alpha." Gaster turned his head, directing his ears towards the center of the blue mass. The flower whispered back, "Test One. Alpha."

Satisfied, he pressed a button and the tiny vial broke. Determination escaped and seeped into the roots. The flower still echoed, "Test One. Alpha."

A few minutes after pressing the button, he leaned in to whisper again, "Test One. Beta." The flower echoed his words. Gaster's assistant stepped forward with a small blowtorch. In an instant, the blue flower was destroyed.

But actually, that isn't what happened. This is what happened: Gaster whispered to the flower, "Test One. Alpha" He turned his head to listen to its echo. The flower whispered, "Test One. Alpha." Satisfied, he pressed a button and the tiny vial broke. Determination seeped into the spoil and into the roots. But the flower didn't say the same thing anymore. When Gaster learned in close to listen, the flower whispered, "Test One. Beta."

And that was the first time Gaster ever made a Save Point.

Frisk and Sans had no trouble understanding the experiment; they were already quite intimately experienced with the concept of save points. Alphys picked up shortly after, she was after all a genius. The others needed a little bit more help.

"But how do they _know_ it time travelled?!" Undyne asked, exasperated.

"because the flower didn't say alpha anymore."

"I AM SO LOST."

"O-okay, let's walk through it." Alphys tapped her claws together. "Step one: he tells the flower alpha. Step two: he releases Determination. Th-that's when the echo flower saves its point in time and space, which it can return to later, okay? It's like keeping a bookmark." Undyne and Papyrus nodded uncertainly. "Then step three is he tells the flower beta. Step four, he kills the flower."

"THAT'S HORRIBLE!"

Alphys chucked. "Um, yeah, it is. But then, the flower just goes back to its bookmark! So really, the whole world rewinds back to the point to where the flower was alive, when Gaster released the Determination! I-it goes back to before Gaster told it beta!"

"Okay…."

"S-so when the flower tells him beta for seemingly no reasons, that i-indicates the flower time travelled."

'THAT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE ENOUGH THOUGH! HOW DOES HE KNOW!"

"why else would it suddenly start saying beta, bro?"

Alphys peered at the computer, skimming through one of the Save Point files. "Okay, um, if this helps, h-he also had control groups. Some flowers didn't get torched, he just released Determination in the same way and recorded that they still say the same thing. Determination alone doesn't change the flower's echo."

Undyne and Papyrus both frowned heavily. Sans could see they were mostly getting it, but largely unsatisfied. Alphys was doing a good job, though, so he left her to keep working.

Sans chose to read on in the files. He learned with some amusement that Gaster had a very difficult time getting rid of the flowers once they were finished being studied. He couldn't just destroy them—that would lead to the flowers going back in time again and altering results. It was a very bizarre problem to run into. He ended up replanting all of the flowers in a special room just for him that no one could access, with automated systems to keep them alive. It was ridiculous.

The basic flower experiment had been repeated many times, with many variations. Gaster discovered that the longer the flower went before returning to its Save Point, the less it 'remembered'. Its echoed words would fall in somewhere between "Alpha" and "Beta". Additionally, flowers that had saved were more likely to have garbled echoes at random times, as if the plants had trouble sticking to their timelines. That made sense to him—time travel messed with the human and his memories plenty, why not a flower's?

Sans suddenly felt a tug at his sleeve, and turned from his phone to see Frisk. The others were a little way away, still arguing about the experiment. The child frowned. "Can we talk for a little bit?"

"don't wanna let you out of everyone's sight, kiddo."

"It's okay, we don't have to go anywhere." The human stepped a little closer, voice hushed. "They're busy… we can talk quietly."

* * *

 **Let me know if anything in this chapter confused you! I am worried that things that make perfect sense in my head don't translate well, especially when they're all timey wimey.**

 **Apologies for the slow update, hopefully I'll be able to find a slightly faster pace soon. School is finally settling into something at least mildly manageable. Last weekend I spend 48 hours making my very first video game for the Global Gamejam, which was SO MUCH FUN AND A VALUABLE LIFE EXPERIENCE, but it ended up putting me way behind on schoolwork. This weekend, I have had way more time to be productive, get shit done, and finish another chapter! Woo hoo!**

 **If my writing isn't as good as it has been... I know. But I'm not gonna sweat it. I don't really have the time or energy to work on it harder than I am, but that's okay. I'm just here to have a good time! :D**


	17. Plan B

You wrapped your arms around yourself but it gave you little comfort. All day, since the boat ride, you had been feeling tremendously uneasy. It had quickly dawned on you how very unsafe you were—how unsafe you'd been since the beginning. All these 'victories', all these newly discovered answers, were just distractions from the ultimate truth: Gaster was coming for you.

Every escape from disaster before had been thanks to coincidence or luck, but your friends would not always be able to protect you. Gaster attacked where you were weakest. He attacked in your head, where nobody else could reach.

"thought you wanted to talk, buddy." Sans' voice brought you back to the present. You were both sitting, away from everybody else. You decided to start with an easy questions.

"Did I make a save point? Is that why… we're stuck in…"

Sans shrugged as your voice faded. "maybe, kiddo. do you know what determination is?"

You shook your head. You did have a vague idea, going off of what you knew about Alphys' research in the True Lab, but even then, you never really understood what is was or where it came from.

"it's something humans have. when a human dies, their soul can exist outside of their body—that's because of determination. we monsters don't have much of that at all, our forms can't sustain it." Sans held up his phone. "from what i've read here today, it's not really known why determination can reverse time. gaster's guess was that it can make save points when it's especially active. lots of movement and energy gets the job done. feeling strongly determined might be what it feels like to create a save point."

You tried thinking back to when you fell that very first time. Was that a save point? Did you feel particularly Determined? You couldn't remember that far back. An idea occurred to you. You closed your eyes and tried to feel Determination. You tried to make a save point.

You couldn't tell if it worked. You guessed not. You let out a long sigh and hugged your knees. "Every new answer we find just confuses me more." You muttered.

"yeah." Sans leaned his head back and gazed up at the tiled ceiling.

You could've let the conversation die right there. But you didn't. "Um, listen." His eyes looked back to you. "I know that, um, Gaster can show up whenever he wants. And I know I'm not really safe. Ever."

"kid-"

"Maybe it's only a matter of time before he gets to me for real. I think. Um. Well." You shifted. "I want Chara."

The skeleton stared at you, incredulous. "what are you saying?"

"I was thinking about it all day. Ever since the boat ride. I was so, so scared. We have _nothing_ to stop him. You can't protect me from something that goes inside my head. But, um, maybe Chara can."

"fucking hell, kid." You could see him shaking with anger. You felt nervous, but persisted.

"I know you had the same idea. That's why you made me write it all down, right? You wanted to use them."

"that was before i realized it was a stupid idea. you can't control chara."

You bit your lip. "Yes I can." You knew exactly how to stop them from getting out of hand. You were very practiced in ending bad timelines.

"so you're willing to put everyone here in danger." His voice was low, features darkened.

"No! Sans…" You tightened your fists. "If it gets out of control, you can try to-"

"remember _last_ time i tried to stop you? remember when you-" He glanced over at the other monsters who thankfully still oblivious to your conversation. His voice hushed. "remember when you _dusted_ me? it's a stupid fucking idea. you're just scared. think with your head."

"I _am_ thinking." Your eyes stung. "I can't _stop_ thinking. If you want me to be safe, you'll understand why I need this."

"what about everyone you've killed. what do they need?"

That threw you—you forgot your voice for a moment. Sans shook his head and pulled himself up.

"i'm done here. don't do it. if you do…" He looked down at you. "i'm never helping you again."

You felt very small as Sans walked away. He said something about checking on the Constant to the other monsters and then left the lab altogether through the western door. You stared ahead at the wall before you. You felt so cold.

His ultimatum frightened you. But it wasn't enough. He hadn't convinced you. You were still alone, still defenseless, still open and exposed to the phantom with the pale face and jagged black scars. You were small and weak. But Chara? Chara was strong and pushy. They could take care of you.

"I'm going to take a nap." You said suddenly.

"What was that?" Undyne called.

You repeated yourself, a little louder. The monsters looked at each other, and then set to work. After a few minutes, they had collected and pulled together some pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals for you to sleep with. Alphys dimmed the lights and put you in a comfortable corner where they could all keep eyes on you. Once you were tucked in, you pulled the blanket over your head. It smelled like detergent.

You thought about the time you killed Toriel. It took one hit to rip her chest open. You thought about all the dogs you destroyed. You remembered the scent of dust; it had made you sneeze. You remembered Papyrus' head separating from his body. Nothing was left but his scarf. You pressed your eyes closed and tried your best to suppress the grief; you focused only on the violence, hoping it would rouse them. _Can you help me?_ You asked. _Chara?_

But no one answered.

When you woke up, the lab was dark. You didn't remember falling asleep. Sans was still nowhere to be seen and Undyne and Alphys were cuddled up in another pile of pillows nearby. Papyrus was awake, sitting at Alphys' desk. The white screen of the computer made his skull glow. He looked so tired.

You climbed out of the blankets and walked to him. He noticed you and flashed you a big grin.

"HI, FRISK! DID YOU SLEEP WELL?"

You smiled and nodded a little. "I need to pee, though."

"UM, THAT'S NICE." The skeleton looked a little perplexed. He didn't exactly know what peeing was.

"Um, that means I need to go outside."

He nodded uncertainly. "OH, OKAY. I CAN TAKE YOU!"

His tall frame stood from the low rolley chair and he took your hand into his. The two of you walked out the western door and then south towards the river. The River Person was still there, staring ahead into the tunnels the river flowered through. You wanted to begin your business, but Papyrus was still watching.

"Um, can I have some privacy?" You asked. He suddenly blushed and spun around quickly. Hurriedly, you relieved yourself and then walked to the river to wash your hands and face. The water was icy cold and made you shiver, but you found it refreshing. When you were done, you looked over towards the skeleton and opened your mouth to speak—you stopped yourself.

What good was it? There was nothing for you at the lab. You didn't want to keep sitting and waiting for Gaster to show up. You couldn't bear to exist like this, knowing that at any moment he would come for you like Death itself. You couldn't stand it.

Quietly as possible, you climbed into the River Person's boat. You glanced over at Papyrus—he was humming to pass the time. You whispered something fast to the River Person and the boat began to move. The skeleton seemed to notice and turned around.

"FRISK, WHAT ARE YOU-"

"Hurry!" You told the River Person. The boat picked up speed. Papyrus took a step towards you, but you were already out of reach. The canoe entered the eastern tunnel.

"The waters are wild today. That's bad luck." The River Person said.

"You can, um, slow the boat down. If you want." You knew when you stepped back onto land, you would have to kill somebody. It was the only way. You dreaded it.

* * *

 **New and drastic changes in plans are always fun/horrible.** **And hey, look at how fast this update was! Good job, me.**


	18. Missing

Sans knew the kid was freaked out, but this was too much.

Maybe he was being a little hypocritical, getting all worked up over an idea he himself had been considering not too recently. The thing was, he had more or less dismissed it—using Chara was too dangerous and unpredictable. The biggest reason Sans didn't want to do it, though, was because he didn't want to be the one to ask Frisk to go through something like that. They wouldn't have forgiven him for that.

Which is why Sans was so shocked when Frisk themself brought up the idea. Hearing it said aloud transformed the plan from something that was just unwise into something that was downright offensive. Sans' anger got away from him.

He had told the other monsters he was checking on the Constant, but that was a lie. Sans was at Grillby's. He slumped over the bar and frowned down at his drink—ketchup on the rocks with a waffle fry garnish. He took a sip, savoring the pleasing mixture of sour vinegar and salty potato, but unfortunately, even this spirit couldn't lift his own spirits.

Sans was terrified he'd made a mistake leaving Frisk alone like that. Abandoning them. They were only a kid, and kids are allowed to be stupid. He was the adult, he should've been acting like one. Sans hoped that his tough love pushed them back towards sanity, but maybe it didn't. Maybe the desperation that drove them to consider using Chara in the first place was only exacerbated when he walked out on them.

"i should go back, shouldn't i?" Sans asked Grillby. The flame didn't respond, but Sans already knew the answer. He knew he should go back, he kept thinking that all through the night, but he never did. He didn't want to.

Instead, Sans stayed at that bar all night long. He chattered and joked with the other regulars as usual, but his heart wasn't in it. He replayed the argument over and over in his mind, worry slowly building, but never becoming enough for him to get up and do something about it. When Grillby announced last call, the skeleton was troubled—he still wasn't ready to go back.

He offered to stick around after closing and help clean up. The flame didn't say yes, but he also didn't say no… or anything at all, so that's what Sans did. By the time they were finished, it was very early morning. Sans still didn't want to return to the Royal Lab, so he went to his own. If his excuse for leaving was to check on the Constant, he might as well follow through on that.

Sans stepped out of the bar and found the crisp cold air refreshing on his bones. The cold didn't really make him uncomfortable as it did for others. He took slow steps towards his home, enjoying the crushing sound of snow beneath his shoes. The entire town was dead silent; Sans found the stillness calming.

His peaceful walk didn't get far. Sans felt a buzzing in his pocket and his heart sunk. Another Gaster alert? No, it wasn't a text, it was a call. After briefly glimpsing his brother's name on the screen, Sans answered.

"hello?"

"I LOST FRISK."

 _shit._

Sans was back at the lab just as Papyrus ran in from the south. Both brothers paused a moment to look at each other—Papyrus was clearly freaking out, so Sans tried his best to look reassuring.

They rushed to wake Undyne and Alphys up (the two had been spooning in their sleep—any other time, Sans would've poked fun). As soon as the words "Frisk" and "missing" were uttered, both fish and lizard were wide awake.

Alphys' first thoughts were to check the cameras. Undyne's first thoughts were to alert the Royal Guard. Sans thought both ideas were excellent; he had forgotten the resources they had available, and it made him feel much better about things. Frisk wouldn't make two steps on land before they were caught. Everything would be fine. Sans began mentally planning the stern talking to he would be giving that kid when they were brought safe and sound back to the lab.

When an hour passed and there was still no sign of the child, Sans' confidence wavered.

When another hour passed, Sans was a mess. He gave up on watching cameras in the lab and began to search himself, taking shortcut to shortcut, everywhere he imagined the kid would show up. He compulsively checked his phone ever few minutes, each time both anticipating and dreading a Gaster alert on the tiny screen, but it never did appear. His only solace was that he knew Frisk had to be alive; after all, everything was still here.

The skeleton found himself pausing his search near the tunnel between Waterfall and Hotland. This was where he found Frisk the last time they were lost. He had sworn he wouldn't let them out of his sight again after that. Sans gave a wry snort. "really screwed the pooch on that one." He muttered, and then felt the most intense desire to break into tears. He kept his expression carefully stony; he'd save the crying for another life. The skeleton suddenly became aware that his phone was buzzing. It was Alphys.

"Found them, they're near you at the dump. L-looks like they washed in from the river."

Sans hung up immediately, for the moment forgetting politeness. One quick shortcut later, he was there. He saw the kid before they saw him.

The child was sitting in the bed of golden flowers. They were completely soaked through, hair a mess with sticks and leaves tangled through. They looked like they'd been through hell. Sans found himself hesitant to approach, something about the scene seemed private.

"hey, pal."

Their head shot up towards him, eyes wide. "How did you—"

"cameras." He took a few cautious steps closer. He had no idea what they'd been doing the last few hours. He didn't know if Frisk was… compromised. "you, uh, feeling ok?"

The child was silent a few moments, and then looked down. "No." Their voice was so small and shaky. "I… I tried to do it. I'm sorry."

Sans held his breath; he wouldn't allow himself to react just yet. "tried?"

Weakly, they nodded. "Just tried."

A wave of pure relief washed over Sans' body; all the nervous tension was instantly gone. He closed his eyes and mouthed a silent _thank you_ to nobody in particular. Just tried. Tried was bad, they shouldn't have even done _that_ … but he could live with just tried.

Sans took a few steps to close the distance between them. In a moment, his thick jacket was on their shivering shoulders. He reached out a bony hand to help them stand. He could hear their teeth chattering. "what's wrong, buddy?"

"The river was _so_ cold."

"oh, well don't worry. we'll get you warmed up." Sans awkwardly hooked his arm around theirs. "can you walk a little bit with me?" They nodded lightly, and the two took a few steps. "hold on." Sans grunted, and they passed through a shortcut. Undyne, Papyrus, and Alphys had all gone to meet them at the entrance; everyone crowded around Frisk to help them inside.

There was much fussing and bickering as the monsters worried over Frisk. The child didn't seem to care, they looked grateful to just be indoors again. _good_ , thought the skeleton, _maybe they'll think twice before doing something this stupid again_.

A short while later, Frisk was in a fresh set of warm pajamas, tucked into a bed of pillow and blankets, and quietly sipping hot chocolate from a mug. Undyne and Alphys were on either side of them, chattering and laughing, doing their best to cheer the poor kid up. Frisk still looked very upset, but they did their best to smile and giggle along, even if it was only to make the monsters feel like they were helping.

"All you ever do is run away, you little punk!" Undyne chuckled, poking Frisk gently on the nose.

"You need a bell." Alphys said.

"No, better, you need a LEASH!"

Sans and Papyrus stood at the other side of the room, watching the scene soberly. He looked at his taller brother, who appeared very bothered by something. "what's wrong, bro?"

"I'M GLAD FRISK IS FINE, I REALLY AM, BUT… I'M REALLY HURT THEY JUST DITCHED ME LIKE THAT, LIKE I WAS… I DON'T KNOW, LIKE I WAS JERRY. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY RAN AWAY AT ALL."

"bro, you're right to be hurt. frisk did some really stupid inconsiderate things today, but we're gonna sort this out. and bro?" Papyrus looked at him, eyes sad. "you're _nothing_ like jerry, don't even talk like that."

* * *

 **Extra special THANK YOU for the reviews from last chapter! You are all so sweet, I can't believe it! All the reviews definitely motivate me to update faster because I have a massive ego and love to read nice things about my writing, lol.**

 **I was really surprised to see the strong emotional response to how the last chapter ended. I'm so glad my story has made this impact, I hope it continues to live up to the drama and excitement you guys seem to be enjoying so much.**

 **To the guest user Kouru-Kage: the comments about giving Frisk a leash in your review made me laugh so much; you probably noticed I referenced exactly that in this chapter! I posted a full response to your comments in the reviews-be sure to look for it!**


	19. Cramped

You lied. Of _course_ you lied, you didn't have a choice. He would've killed you.

You were feeling guilty, so you let Chara take the reins for those brief moments it took to convince Sans that it was only you. It was a very risky move, you had no guarantee you'd get control back when they were done, but it worked out well. Chara didn't seem interested in fighting you much.

It was a little strange, having them with you and for once not actively trying to suppress them. They weren't making efforts to overpower you, either. Chara knew why you brought them out; they had immediately agreed with you to unite against this new common enemy, Gaster. Despite both of your efforts at teamwork, sharing one head between two wildly different personalities was… disorienting to say the least.

Your mood was very low. You hadn't really contemplated your sins yet; every moment your thoughts skirted towards what you did, a sense of shame overcame you and you rushed to distract yourself with something else. You were just not ready to deal with it yet. Chara's mood, however, was the opposite of yours. They were delighted to be alive and excited to fight Gaster. Neither of you know if "fight" was the correct word, neither of you knew what it would be like when Gaster tried to take control with Chara there, but they were confident they'd win anyhow.

Having both a high and low mood at once was not easy to deal with, especially adding in the need to keep up appearances with your friends. It was okay and even expected for you to be sad, sullen, tired, afraid—and while you did feel those things, you had some difficulty resisting Chara's urge to smile, bounce around, and just in general act like a hyperactive little kid.

Everybody was very tired—they'd all lost sleep over you, after all. Once you were taken care of, it was too late in the morning for everyone to return to sleep, so you all ate the remaining 'dogs from the day before as breakfast and got to work on reading through the files again. You were having trouble remembering anything you read off your small phone's screen—Chara was distracting you.

"hey kiddo, let's run." You looked up, surprised to see Sans before you. He had barely said a word to you once you both got back to the lab earlier. "we're gonna look for gaster's flowers. found a location for them in his notes."

You stood from the comfortable pile of blankets and dusted yourself off. Sans took your hand, not to hold it, but to tie something around it. You looked down at your wrist when he was done, confused, and saw that it was a long piece of string. The other end was tied around his wrist. You looked back at Sans, one brow raised.

"so you don't get lost again." He said calmly. "c'mon."

He led you back outside the lab. Undyne and Alphys gave you a chipper "see you later". Papyrus, you noticed, didn't say a thing. He was still pretty upset, you guessed. You would have to apologize when you got back.

For the briefest moment, Sans held your hand, but only as you passed through a shortcut. You found yourself near the big Waterfall; the rocks Undyne left as a puzzle were still falling from the top. They were very easy to avoid. You followed Sans through the secret door behind the water, where there was an old discarded tutu. Sans led you right past and stopped at the wall.

"look around for a switch or something." He said. You both began feeling around for any irregularities in the wall. The string between you kept getting in the way and limiting your search—you found it a little annoying. Chara suggested more than once that you just rip it off. You ignored them.

Sans was the one who found it. He had to put some considerable weight into it, but a portion of the wall did budge open. The two of you walked through the small opening and, as Sans said there'd be, there was a very small room. A large window on one side displayed a tiny greenhouse, where dozens of blue flowers were growing. Form what you could see, there was no way to reach the flowers.

"climate controlled, automated watering. everything you need to keep flowers alive for as long as possible. 'course, all of this might not be necessary anymore."

You looked over at Sans questionably. "What do you mean?"

Sans watched the gently swaying plants as he spoke. "because i think you saved over their save points, kid. i think your determination is stronger than these flowers'. if these flowers die, my bet is they stay dead."

"Where'd you get that idea?"

"from your notes about flowey. you said he used to have the same problem as you, the starting over. and then you came along and he lost that ability. kid, i'm thinking your save—or whatever it is that created your loop—it disrupts other saves."

"How are you so sure?"

Sans looked at the thick glass separating you both from the flower room. A blue flame appeared in his eye. Suddenly, a huge Gaster Blaster was before you, a thick laser shot from its mouth and the glass was shattered. Sans poked his head through the window a brief second, informing the echo flowers that "gaster is a stupid doodoo butt."

He then ducked his head out of the way as his Gaster Blaster shot a smaller laser through the opening, destroying most of the echo flowers inside. Once the skeleton was satisfied with the damage he had done, the flame in his eye and the Gaster Blaster both vanished immediately.

The scene chilled both you and Chara. You couldn't stop from shaking. Sans didn't seem to notice or care. He pulled out his phone and studied it a few seconds. "yup, gaster's notes are the same. the flowers didn't go back to their save points. supports my hypothesis."

You were too alarmed by the unexpected appearance of a Gaster Blaster to think very hard about it, but you were still a little skeptical. Maybe the saves fade after a sufficiently long time? Additionally, it kind of bothered you that Sans was willing to try such a risky move. The flowers' save points dated back a long time—before you were ever born, even. If Sans was wrong, he would have completely undone everything. You heard Chara's voice inside your head. _Sans took the risk because he didn't care. If he had the chance to undo everything, why wouldn't he? He hates where his life has gone._

You didn't realize Sans was watching you. "you look a little freaked out. did my magic scare you?" He tone didn't sound very apologetic. You didn't answer, you felt a little uncomfortable. Sans waited a few moments, and then gave a tired sigh. "i have a bone to pick with you, kiddo."

"Um. Good one."

"it's been several hours and you haven't given any of us a single detail about where you've been. the others, they're trying to be patient, they didn't want to push you. if they knew the full story, i'm sure they'd be far less nice about it."

You avoided his gaze. "I really don't want to talk about it." Chara thought they should take over for this, they wanted to try smoothing things over, but you didn't let them. You didn't want to be disingenuous.

"too bad. at least tell me what it is you tried to do to… to get chara." You could feel Sans staring at you. "frisk… did you hurt anybody?"

Oh, you were wrong. You couldn't do this. Chara took over.

"I wanted to!" You looked at Sans, eyes sincere, brows furrowed. "But I couldn't."

"how did you avoid the cameras?"

"I never reached land until I got to the dump where you found me. There's no cameras on the river."

"why didn't you go on land?"

"I was afraid. I knew when I stepped off that boat I'd have to hurt somebody. I kept putting it off."

"how'd you end up in the water?"

Chara paused at that. "I fell."

"…you fell."

"Yes."

 _You're messing up._

 _Shut up! You do it, then!_

 _Okay._

Chara gave you back the reins. You were beginning to get used to this switching pilots business. "I was really scared." That was true, you weren't lying. "I realized that the moment I stepped off that boat… well, everyone must've already known I was gone. And I was so sure you'd there be waiting for me before I even got a chance to…" You looked down. "To, um, try getting Chara. I decided I'd try to swim, go somewhere you wouldn't look. But the water was _so_ cold, and I wasn't strong enough to swim upriver. I couldn't do anything, I just had to let it push me along."

Sans' glare had softened. He was beginning to believe you. You felt like a monster. "is that the full story?"

You nodded. You were lying. You hated yourself.

Sans considered you a moment. He sighed. "ok pal, i don't think you're being completely honest with me, but i really can't blame you. you need time." He paused a moment, as if internally debating over something. "uh, i want to apologize. i'm sorry if i made you feel… alone." Now it was Sans' turn to avoid your gaze. You were not expecting this. "i shouldn't have just left you like that. i can't really blame you for being terrified, for doing something rash. i should've been more understanding. i'm just glad you didn't do it. i didn't want to have to…" _Kill me?_ You wondered. _Duh_ , replied Chara. "kiddo, i'm not going to leave you again. i know i haven't been entirely reliable. i'm working on that, though. "

* * *

 **I had the hardest time deciding how to write this chapter! I'm happy with how it went, through!**

 **Once again, thank you for the wonderful reviews! I may not get to update for a couple days, it's about to get super busy for me again-Midterms, yuck.**


	20. Apologist

Maybe he was being mean. But maybe mean was good.

At first, Sans had easily believed Frisk when they claimed they hadn't done anything, but it didn't take long for his skepticism to kick in. Pinpricks of guilt poked at him when he had flexed his magic, using his Gaster Blasters in front of the kid like that. He was well aware of how much his magic alarmed them, he hoped he didn't incite _too_ much fear. Then again, maybe fear was good. Maybe they needed to be reminded of what he was capable of. Or was that cruel? Sans didn't know.

It was pretty rash of him, destroying those flowers based on a half-assed hypothesis. When the lasers tore through the plants, the skeleton had tensed—waiting for it all to suddenly vanish, waiting to suddenly be someone else, another Sans from another decade. But nothing changed. He was still inside the loop. He didn't know if it was wrong of him to be disappointed.

Sans examined the thread that linked him to Frisk, it was thin and weak. Easy for them to break, but not without getting his attention. He hoped this at least would be enough to keep Frisk in check when out on fieldtrips like this one, but it would do no good in the lab. They would need something really good to keep the kid constrained if they tried to run away again.

A sad idea popped into his head. No, that wasn't right. They didn't do anything wrong. They were only a child. Sans furrowed his brow, but maybe they were a compromised child. He glanced at the human. Were their cheeks slightly rosier or was that just his imagination?

He would have to bring the idea up when they got back. _pap's gonna hate this._

When they were finally ready to leave, the trip back to the lab was silent. He led Frisk by the string inside and to the others. The monsters had all been sitting around, reading files or computer screens. Sans opened his mouth to speak, but the kid beat him to it.

"I want to, um, say sorry. To everyone. Especially you, Papyrus. It was wrong of me to run away."

Sans peered down at the human's sober expression. Their eyes were misty, threatening tears.

"I was, uh, really really scared. And I don't think right when I'm scared. Gaster, he…" They paused a moment, a focused look crossing their face as they considered their words. "It's like you're a really small animal caught in a trap. And you know it's only a matter of time before the hunter who set that trap comes for you. As time goes on, as you wait for him, you get more and more afraid. It builds up and up. And you… you lose your head. I thought you couldn't help me. I thought I was alone in this." Sans thought he saw the tiniest smile twitch at their lips. "I'm not now."

Papyrus gazed at Frisk with wide, sad eyes. "OH… I'M SORRY I WAS UPSET AT YOU, FRISK! YOU DID HURT MY FEELINGS A LITTLE, BUT I UNDERSTAND. NEXT TIME YOU FEEL SO SCARED, JUST TELL US! I'LL REMIND YOU THAT YOU'RE NOT ALONE IN THIS!"

Frisk gave a tearful nod, Papyrus leaned down to give them a warm hug. The other monsters joined in. Once again, Sans decided to respectfully sit this moment of tenderness out. Papyrus had always been too quickly forgiving.

"along those lines," Sans began once the group hug had dissipated, "as for keeping the kiddo safe, i have a thought. gaster can overpower the kid's will to live, can make them go enormous lengths to follow him. when gaster is in the room, we can't predict how the kid is gonna act. we need to find a way to restrain them, to keep them safe. i think we need a holding cell. itll protect them."

They all stared. Papyrus was the first to speak.

"WHAT?"

"A-are you, um, sure that's really necessary?" Alphys clacked her claws together.

"frisk got away so easily when they were in their _right_ mind. consider when gaster is in the room. we can't assume they won't lie to get away if they have to."

Undyne frowned over at the child, who was currently wearing an unreadable expression. "What do _you_ think?"

They stared blankly for a moment or two, before seeming to rouse themself. "Oh, um, I don't… I don't like the idea of being stuck somewhere. What if I need to pee?"

"we'll get you a bucket."

" _SANS!_ " Papyrus scolded, "THAT'S HORRIBLE!"

"I don't have anything that would even work that way." Alphys frowned.

Sans now realized he should've thought of a better idea to breach the subject. He was getting ready to backpedal, maybe touch on the idea another time in a less offensive way, when the child spoke again.

"Maybe just some kind of restraint. Like the string." They tugged at it now; Sans had forgotten they were both still attached by the wrist. "On the surface, grownups like to put harnesses on their children. If they tend to wander."

"You don't have to do that, Frisk." Undyne put a clawed hand on their tiny shoulder. "That sounds just terrible, being chained up like that. You're nobody's prisoner."

"No, not right now I'm not. But next time Gaster shows…" Their lips tightened into a resolved frown. "I don't want to get taken. I want to stay here."

"We'll need something the kid can't open themselves."

"Easy, just make it magic activated…" Alphys mumbled. Sans could tell she was already thinking of ideas.

Well, this could work. Sans was a little surprised Frisk accepted it so quickly. Could this just be Chara playing along, trying to build more trust? The child caught Sans looking at them, and gave a small, nervous smile. He just couldn't tell. It was so frustrating.

"well, let's get started" Sans gave the child his own lazy grin. "the sooner it's done, the safer you'll be."

* * *

 **Hello, all! It's been such a long time since I've updated, I want to apologize about that. It's a very busy time of year thanks to school and the hunt for internships. It's been very stressful! Not out of the woods yet, but I'm taking advantage of spring break to hopefully get a chapter or two up.**

 **By the way, during my break, I've become a beta reader for another Undertale story! It's called Echoes of Blue by eternal blossoms, you can read it here or on ao3! It's super good; if you like my story, I bet you'll love this one because she and I have very similar taste in stories!**

 **As always, thank you very much for reading, I am so flattered by all of your kindness and support! I will hopefully get another update in very shortly!**


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